The Aniwizard Adventures 2: Wizards and Controller
by SiriuslyPadfoot12
Summary: The Yeerks don't take defeat lying down, and they're up to something. They've developed a weapon that can take a wizard's magic, and only the Aniwizards and Animorphs can stop them! But havoc ensues when one of their own looses their magical powers...
1. Sunny Side Down: Jake

**IMPORTANT: This story contains major, _major_, _MAJOR_ _Order of the Phoenix_ spoilers. If you have not finished it, _do not read_. I'm not one to ruin the end of a book for someone. This tells who dies and why Voldemort offered to spare Lily and kill Harry. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!**

Wizards and Controllers

By Meagan, a.k.a. Padfoot

Chapter 1 Sunny Side Down (Jake) 

            My name is Jake.

            You may not know it—and if you do, it's probably too late—but the world is being invaded by a parasitic alien race called the Yeerks.

            Yeah, you're probably wondering where my straightjacket is now, but first let me explain.

            It happened two years ago, when the others and I were thirteen. We were walking home from the mall when an Andalite ship landed and we met a person who changed our lives forever: Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. He explained to us the Yeerk threat and gave us the power to morph just before he died.

            Ever since then, we've been saving the human race.

            Who are we, you ask?

            We are the Animorphs.

There are six of us: Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Ax, and me.

            Rachel is our warrior and my cousin. She isn't afraid of anything and fights valiantly. Sometimes this makes me worry, because she seems to enjoy it a little _too_ much. I guess you can say she's pretty: she's tall, blonde, and has big blue eyes.

            But don't get her wrong.

            She's not your regular mall-rat. Besides having looks, she has brains too. She'll kick your butt if she wants to.

            Tobias is our resident _nothlit_, which means he overstayed the two-hour morphing limit. He's a red-tailed hawk and will always be a dreamer.

            I guess you can say that he was a geek when he was human. He was a fully-fledged bully magnet. He was a dreamer, too, before he got stuck. Now he's a hunter.

            Cassie is the sensitive one. She's a tree-hugger, as Marco would say. She loves all types of animals and helps her dad in their barn, a.k.a. the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. And I guess you could say she's… um… kind of my girlfriend.

            Don't tell anyone else that.

            Marco is the joker and—as Rachel says—a whiner. Well, he does actually whine a lot. But he's my best friend and has been since we were little. He's fighting because his Mom is Visser One, and he wants to save her.

            And we had all just met two amazing people: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. They had helped us save the magic school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the Yeerk invasion a few months ago. Harry and his friend Ron nearly died, but we all got out alive.

            So now I sat in my room, doing my Algebra homework.

            Yeah, it stinks, doesn't it? We save the world and we _still_ have to do our homework.

            I was toying with the chain around my neck. The necklace that hung around my neck was the only way for us to communicate with our wizard friends. It wasn't a very complicated process: all I had to do was squeeze it and concentrate. Not that I had tried it yet. I was actually afraid that I would break the lightning-bolt charm if I squeezed it too hard.

The phone rang. I pushed myself up and ran to the door, but it stopped ringing. Heart thudding, I stared at the phone, which rested on a table down the hall. What if one of the Animorphs was calling me and they had just been taken captive without finishing the call?

            The phone rang again, twice this time, and stopped. Tom came down the hall. I quickly shut the door so that it was only open a crack. The phone rang for a third time, and on the third ring Tom picked up.

            "Hello?"

            An indistinguishable voice said something on the other line.

            I frowned. I peered over the edge of the door. Tom wasn't facing me. I opened the door and darted across the hall to my parents' room. There was a phone in there.

            I looked out again to see if Tom had seen me.

            He hadn't.

            I carefully picked up the receiver, eyes glued to the door. No Hork-Bajir ran in, wrists blades flashing. I pressed the receiver to my ear.

            "—is sure to stop them."

            I didn't know the voice on the other line, but I knew it belonged to a Controller.

            "Has it been finished? Tested?" demanded Tom.

            "It's been finished. _He_ even brought some in for testing."

            "So it works."

            "Yes."

            "Will it work against the target, as well as others?"

            "Yes."

            "Good."

            Click.

            The dial tone came on the receiver. I stared down at it, not knowing what to think. They were doing something, which meant something was going to go horribly wrong for us… and possibly for Harry and Hermione. They Yeerks don't take defeat lying down.

            I hung up the phone and looked out into the hall. Tom was gone. I ran to the phone and dialed Cassie up with trembling fingers. To my relief, she was the person to pick up.

            "Hello?"

            "Hi, Cassie. It's Jake."

            "Hi, Jake! What's up?"

            "Oh, I was just thinking about writing our pen pals. You know, the ones over in England. I wanted to know if I could come over so we could write them together."

            "Sure!"

            "Could you call the others, too? They'd like a say in the letter, too."

            "Okay. Bye!"

            And moments later, I was soaring my way over to Cassie's barn.

            Tobias and Ax were there when I got there. I landed and quickly demorphed, beak and talons melting into mouth, nose, and toes. I sprouted a few more feet. My feathers turned waxy and smoothed out into skin. My senses dulled. I blinked a few times to readjust.

            Seconds later, a bald eagle and osprey swept into the barn. In moments Rachel and Marco were standing by my side. Marco collapsed on a bale of hay. He closed his eyes and just sort of lay there, as if he were dead.

            Rachel wrinkled her nose in disdain. She strode over to the other side of the barn and leaned against the wall. Marco's eyes popped open and he sat up, grinning brilliantly at her. "It's not contagious, you know," he said glibly.

            Rachel cocked a golden eyebrow. "I'd rather not take any chances." She replied.

            He winced. "Ooooh. Rachel, one. Me, _zip_."

            This is all very fascinating, Tobias said, But I really don't think it's why Jake called us together.

            I shook my head. "It isn't, as a matter of fact. I just eavesdropped on Tom and they were talking about some sort of weapon. From the way they said it, it sounded as if they were talking about wizards or at least Voldemort. You could tell that when they said _he_ they were talking about Voldemort."

            "This is going to be as fun as a barrel of monkeys," Marco said, swinging his arm in mock excitement.

            "You're bad enough," Rachel replied, batting her eyelashes at Marco.

            Marco grimaced. "Two-nothing. Owie." He wrinkled his nose and lightly changed the topic. "So are we calling in the cavalry?"

            I rubbed my forehead. I could feel a headache coming on. "I think we better have. This isn't a thing I can just decide by myself, though. We need a vote. All in favor?"

            Five of the six hands went up. I looked at Ax. He was outnumbered five to one. I knew why he didn't want any wizards involved. He'd had three werewolf transformations in the past two months. I wouldn't have liked wizards all that much if I were in his shoes—um, hooves.

            "All right," I said, swinging my arms, "I guess we're giving Harry and Hermione a call."

            Everyone watched as I pulled at the gold chain that hung around my neck. The intricate, pure gold lightning-bolt charm fell against my shirt, as warm as always. I looked at the others, all with expressions of dead seriousness. I held my breath and held the charm in my palm. I wrapped my fingers around it.

            And concentrated.

**A/N: Okie-dokie! Sorry this took me so long, people. Same old, same old excuses I've got going: school, homework, extra curricular activities, homework… yadda, yadda, yadda. I've also been reading a lot more than usual lately and I was writing in my other stories. (BTW, _The Elvenbane_ is one of the best books ever!! Not as good as HP, though…) Stick around for "Chapter 2: Call Me, Beep Me (Harry)"!**


	2. Call Me, Beep Me: Harry

Chapter 2 Call Me, Beep Me (Harry) 

            My name is Harry Potter.

            And I am the Boy Who Lived.

            For five years now I have gone to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Five years now I have known I was a wizard. Five years now I have known the _real_ reason my parents died.

            Five years now I have fled Lord Voldemort's wrath.

            For months now I have known why Voldemort wants to kill me. Months now I have I felt more pain in my scar than ever before. Months now I have been praised for defeating the Dark Lord yet again.

            Months now have passed since my godfather died and my life has been almost nothing but a black void.

            I am the person of a prophecy. I am the one—the only one—who can defeat my parents' murderer. I have been different all my life, secluded from everyone around me.

            I sighed and looked out over the dismal lawn. I was at Ron's house, but it had rained non-stop since I had gotten there. We were inside before the warm hearth. No one but the both of us, Hermione, and Ginny was home. 

Ron was slumped in his wheelchair, lightly dozing. His legs were healing, but it would be a few months until they were completely. He had to take a potion made of phoenix tears (from Fawkes himself) and unicorn hair mixed into pumpkin juice every two hours.

            Ginny sat cross-legged on the floor, playing Exploding Snap with herself. She was oblivious to the rain and wind that rattled the window and the thunder that roared outside. She had big bags under her eyes, as if she had many a sleepless night since the Department of Mysteries. In fact, she had. We all had.

            Hermione and I sat on the sofa. Her head rested on my shoulder. She watched the fire through half-closed eyes. I held her hands in my cold ones. Her breath was becoming slow and steady. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled absently. I laid my head on hers, inhaling the smell of her hair. Mmmm. Lilac.

            I used my other hand to guide her chin so that she looked up. She smiled sleepily at me. I lowered my head over hers and brushed my lips against her cheek. She sat up straighter and put her lips on mine. I leaned into the kiss, fiery passion burning through my veins. Her eyelids fluttered, gently brushing my cheek.

            "I love you," she whispered in my ear, sending a thrill down my spine.

            "Me, too," I whispered back.

            We went on for about another five minutes. I'm sure no one wants to hear details.

            Suddenly, there was a loud bang and pop that sounded as if it came from somewhere near my chest. Hermione and I sprang apart with identical yells of shock and surprise. Ron, jerked out of his sleep, whipped out of his wand and Ginny surged to her feet, looking panicked.

            The sound rang through the air again. I stared around in confusion, and then fished in my shirt for the necklace that connected me to the Animorphs. I yelped when I pulled it out, for it was shining so brightly it hurt my eyes. 

            Hermione took over then. She unlatched the necklace and threw it. It flew a few feet and then stopped in midair, as if it were around some invisible person's neck. The air around it shimmered. I squinted at it. A head—Jake's head—formed and the rest of him appeared rapidly. He looked like a solid ghost, or like a colored echo.

            He blinked.

            I blinked.

            Ron blinked.

            Ginny blinked.

            "Hello, Jake," Hermione said, not looking the least bit flustered.

            "Uh, hi," he stuttered.

            I ran a hand through my hair. "_That_ was unexpected."

            "Did I interrupt something?"

            "Did you _ever_," said Ginny with a snort. "I think they wouldn't have stopped if you hadn't come calling." She jerked her head at Hermione and me. We both blushed furiously. We hadn't known she had been paying us any attention.

            Jake looked a little embarrassed. He scratched his neck and eyed Ginny up. "I don't think I know you," he said slowly.

            "Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister," she replied.

            "Um, okay," Jake said. He turned to us then, suddenly very serious. "The Yeerks are up to something. I just caught my brother—his Yeerk—talking to someone. I think they're planning something against you. They don't take defeat all that easily, you know."

            I narrowed my eyes. "Is Voldemort working with them?"

            Ginny and Ron shuddered.

            "We think so."

            I looked at Hermione. A raging fire burned in her eyes. There was no need to ask her whether she was coming.

            "We're on it."

            Jake sagged, looking visibly relieved. "Thanks. You have a way to get to us, right? Like, you could fly or something?"

            "We'll—we'll—" I stuttered, racking my brain for something to do.

            "We'll morph thestral," Hermione said. "It's the fastest way to travel."

            Ginny gasped. I glanced at her. She hadn't known we could morph.

            "We'll see you then," Jake said. I watched his ghostly arms rise to take off the necklace. He fumbled with the latch and removed it. His form shivered and disappeared. My necklace fell to the ground with a light thump. We all stared at it.

            "I'm going with you," Ron said. He looked straight into my eyes, daring me to stop him. "I was left out last time because of the stupid Yeerks. Look what they did to me! They're going to pay for it."

            "Ron…" Hermione said weakly.

            "No, you can't stop me," he replied, "I'll… I'll ride one of you, if I must. I can ride. Remember the thestral I rode to the Department of Mysteries? My legs may be useless, but I can still fight!"

            Well, there was no changing _his_ mind.

            "I'm going, too," Ginny said.

            "No." Ron retorted.

            "Yes, I am."

            "No, you're not.

            "Am too!"

            "Am not!"

            "Am too!"

            "Am not!"

            "Am _TOO_!"

            "Am _NOT_!"

            "SHUT UP!"

            I jumped about a foot in the air and whirled around to look at Hermione. Her face was flushed. Her eyes were alight with an almost maniacal glint. "You can _both_ come if it's all that important to you!"

            Ron and Ginny looked at each other. I bit my lip to hide a grin.

            Hermione left with a quick, "I'll be right back" and returned a few seconds later with a bag slung over her shoulder. It was an odd-looking tote bag made of shiny purple material. "This," she said, setting it down on the table, "is an Infinite Bag."

            "Infinite Bag?" repeated Ron.

            She nodded. "It can hold _anything_, of any size." She demonstrated for us by sticking her arm inside. It went straight down, seemingly through the table. She pulled her arm out and said, "We can take our stuff in here. One of us can carry it, Harry. I think Ron's wheelchair will fit in it."

            "We're leaving _now_?" demanded Ginny.

            Hermione nodded.

            "What—what about my parents?" Ginny asked, looking flustered.

            "Leave a note," Hermione said with a shrug.

            Ron ogled at her. "A _note_?" he repeated incredulously.

            She whirled on him. "Then _what_ do you propose we do?"

            He quailed under her glare. She nodded in satisfaction and returned to packing, which took about a half-an-hour. She was right when she said that it was an _infinite_ bag. It held everything we stuffed in it and could probably have fit more.

            Then we all trooped outside into the drizzle. It was horrible out. On top of the rain, it was freezing for June. I shivered and kneaded my scar, which was starting to prickle.

            "All right, then," Hermione said when we were some ways away from the Burrow, "We'll morph here. Harry, you do it first and I'll help Ron on."

            And that's just what we did.

            I closed my eyes and concentrated on the thestral DNA in me. All the fat and muscles I had on my body seemed to disappear. I shuddered as I saw my skin sag on bones. It tightened as I watched, just as my skin rippled and became course black hair. My eyes moved—seriously, they just _moved_—to the sides of my head just has my whole face bulged outwards. My eyeteeth grew into long fangs that extended past my chin.

            My spine cracked and writhed, forcing me down onto hands that were solidifying into hooves. Leathery black wings sprouted from my back. I grew several sizes larger. My clothes had long since melted into the morph.

            When the morph was completed, the instincts whispered at the back of my mind. I quickly pushed them away and eyed my surroundings. It was my first time in this morph. 

            Ron and Ginny looked straight through me. Ron had been in the Yeerk Pool during the battle, true, but he hadn't actually seen someone die. Ginny hadn't even been there at all.

            Okay, I said, shifting on my hooves, I'm ready.

            "It'd be good if we could _see him_," Ron complained. Hermione rolled her eyes, pointed her wand at him, and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." He yelped when he rose into the air. Hermione—who _had_ seen people killed—guided him over to me and settled him across my back. I blinked my white eyes and turned my head to look at him. He stared right through me.

            Then Hermione morphed and helped Ginny onto her back.

            "Ready when you are," Ron said, clutching my neck tightly.

            Right then, I said, and flapped my great, bat-like wings. I rose into the air and again the thrill of flight sang in my bones. I used the thestral's instincts to point me in the right direction and took off, followed immediately by Hermione.

            We were off to our next great adventure.

**A/N: Bwuahahaha! Chapter 2!! I was afraid I wasn't going to finish this 'un this week. Aaah, well. Thanks to all those who have reviewed. I hope to make this as good—and maybe better—than the first one. I've greatly improved my writing skills since then (as I hope is obvious). Sorry if Hermione's character was a little off this chapter. Me fixit!! Stay tuned for "Chapter 3: Arriving in Style (Rachel)"!**


	3. Arriving in Style: Rachel

Chapter 3 Arriving in Style (Rachel) 

            My name is Rachel

            We all watched as Jake clutched the lightning-bolt charm in his fist. All his muscles were tensed in anticipation. His eyes were screwed tightly shut. He looked ready for anything.

            Then, suddenly, he relaxed. He teetered dangerously and just sort of collapsed into a heap. Cassie was immediately at his side, bending down beside him and holding his head up.

            I ran over and squatted down beside them.

            "He's still breathing, and his heart-rate is normal," Cassie said, looking very concerned. 

            "At least he's not dead," Marco replied with a shrug.

            I ground my teeth. "_Not helping_."

            He held up his hands and bowed submissively. "Okay."

            Maybe he'll come to in a second, Tobias suggested.

            "One," Marco said helpfully, peering down at Jake.

            To my utter amazement, Jake's eyelids fluttered. He blinked up at our faces. "Why am I on the ground?"

            "It worked!" Marco yelled.

            I do not think it was because of your counting that awakened him, Marco, Ax said, I believe it was a coincident.

            "Killjoy," Marco muttered.

            "You collapsed when you used the necklace," Cassie explained to Jake, "It looked like you were knocked out. We didn't know what to do, or if we should wake you up. Did you contact Harry and Hermione?"

            He nodded, propping himself up on his elbows. "They're on their way, and by thestrals. We've morphed them before, remember? They're the fastest animals alive, I'd say."

            "When do you think they'll get here?" I asked, rocking back on my heels and standing up. Cassie got up and helped him to his feet.

            "I'd say in ten minutes at the most," Jake said, "Thestrals can really move."

            Tobias swept out of the barn to check and see whether anyone was coming. Cassie's parents weren't home, and Tobias reported that there was no one for miles.

            We waited in an uneasy silence. Tobias kept his eye in the sky, searching. Cassie kept looking at her watch.

            Five earth minutes have passed, Ax informed us.

            "Dude, I'm on Earth, you're on Earth, we're all on Earth," Marco said, sounding exasperated, "When you're on Earth, they're _everyone_'s minutes."

            Six _earth_ minutes have passed, Ax said vehemently.

            Marco sighed and buried his face in his hands. "He's hopeless."

            "Much like you," I said.

            He hissed through his teeth. "Three-nada."

            They're here! Tobias yelled, shrieking and flapping his wings.

            All heads turned skyward. Sure enough, two black figures appeared above the treetops. The closer they got, the better you could see the thestrals, and the two figures astride them. Two figures with _very_ red hair…

            "What is Ron doing with them? I thought you said it was only Harry and Hermione!" I exclaimed.

            Jake, too, looked surprised. "That's what _I_ thought."

            The two thestrals landed. They were both recognizably Weasleys. One I knew was Ron, but the other I had never met before. I guess you can say she was pretty. She had wavy, flowing red hair that went down to the small of her back. Her cheekbones arched high over her slender face. Freckles dotted her small, button nose. Her brown eyes were alight with interest. She was tall, just an inch or two shorter than Ron, and thin as a rail in an attractive kind of way.

            The other way I knew she was pretty was the way Marco went after her like a dog after a squirrel.

            "Let me help you," he said, gliding forward and holding out a hand to help her down.

            She arched an eyebrow and slid down off the thestral's back without his help. She snorted derisively. "Who are you? The knight in shining spandex?"

            Marco looked horribly pained and turned to Jake in despair. "She's like _Rachel_!" he wailed.

            "Is that necessarily a bad thing, monkey-boy?" I asked, eyes twinkling.

            He mimed a knife in the chest. "Cuatro-cero," he gasped in mock pain. Then he looked to the sky and shook his fists at it. "Of all the girls to have come from Hogwarts, it _had_ to be the one that doesn't like me!"

            The thestral the Weasley girl had been riding melted into Hermione. She took a weird-looking purple tote bag from her mouth and dug around inside it. To my shock and amazement, she pulled out a regular sized wheelchair and set it on the ground.

            Hermione quickly levitated Ron off the thestral's—Harry's—back. Harry instantly demorphed. He looked around him and grinned. "So this is America," he said.

            "Yeah, it's not much different than Britain," I said, "Except that it's warmer."

            Harry pulled off his sweater. "I can live with that."

            Cassie's dad is coming! Tobias yelled suddenly.

            Jake jumped. "Scatter!" he cried.

            Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Weasley girl fled. Ax galloped off into the forest and Tobias took to the air. Cassie's dad then came around the corner, looking slightly befuddled. He looked at Cassie and said slowly, "I could have sworn I head someone speaking with a British accent."

            "That was me," Marco lied glibly, "Rachel and I are practicing for a play. I'm a British newcomer to America, and Rachel's the woman who falls madly in love with me." Then, he added, not so glibly, "And it ends with this great make-out session."

            Now that was laying on a bit thick, and trust him to totally ruin the moment with an ending like that. I curled my hands into fists and smiled, tight lipped, not saying anything.

            He would pay later.

            Cassie's dad raised his eyebrows. "Uh-_huh_. Well, I'll leave you four to your—practice," he said. He walked by us and went into the house, whistling and twirling his keys on his finger.

            Jake glanced at the house and trotted off to where the Aniwizards had darted, motioning for us to follow. We followed.

            The Aniwizards, Ax, and Tobias were sitting and having a conversation by the time we arrived.

            "—like a centaur," the Weasley girl was saying.

            I am not sure whether we Andalites are related to your earth species, the centaur, Ax replied.

            "_Magic_ earth species," Hermione corrected him, "Muggles don't even know they exist. Well, all muggles except you six. Though I'm not sure I should call you muggles, since you've acquired wizard… er… essence? DNA?"

            "DNA," Jake said, stepping forward and startling them.

            "Oh, it's only you," Ron said, looking relieved. He grinned up at us. "We've been trying to convince Ax that magic _isn't_ technology. I think he's in denial over the fact that magic exists."

            Jake cracked a grin. "I'm sure he is."

            It is, quite frankly, not possible, Prince Jake! Ax said, sounding distressed.

            "That's why it's called _magic_," Jake said, then added, "And don't call me 'prince'."

            Yes, Prince Jake.

            The Weasley girl laughed and, when she saw no one else did, stopped.

            Marco sidled up to her and looked up—yes, up, he was shorter than her—into her eyes. "And what is your name, my perfect little dewdrop of beauty?"

            She ignored him.

            "It's a hopeless case, Marco," I said. "What _is_ your name, by the way, kid?"

            "Ginny," she replied, "Ginny Weasley."

            Marco's eyes shone. "Aaah, the perfect name for the perfect girl," he said with a sigh.

            In retort, she turned her back on him. "_Hsst_," I said, licking my finger and running it down the air as if I were dousing an imaginary flame. "The very good, old-fashioned cold shoulder."

            He glared at me, making my grin widen.

            Jake cleared his throat. "Okay, now down to business. What _are_ we going to do about this new Yeerk threat?"

            And, with that, our planning went underway.

**A/N: Hobey-ho, in the famous words of D. J. MacHale! I have completed chapter tres! (Yes, I just started taking Spanish ::cough cough::) I'm sorry about Ginny's character… I haven't really gotten the feel for it yet. This is the first time I've used her as a major character in a fic, so bear with me. Stick around for Chapter 4, which is told by Hermione but has no title as of yet…**


	4. Mission: Impulsive: Hermione

Chapter 4 Mission: Impulsive (Hermione) 

            My name is Hermione Granger.

            And I can't believe what I'm doing.

            Which is exactly what I told them.

            "I can't believe I'm doing this," I said. 

            "That was _my _reaction when Jake told us," Marco said. He picked a leaf off his morphing outfit. "By the way, Jake, we _still_ need that spandex uniform I was talking about. I mean, we don't look like superheroes at all. Look at us! Our uniforms aren't at all coordinated."

            "Shut up, Marco, or I'll use _you_ as my uniform," Rachel said threateningly.

            "I'm too small," Marco retorted.

            She said nothing.

            "Yes! Score! Four to one!"

            Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but Jake interrupted with, "Both of you be quiet. We'll get caught."

            There were only five of us on this "mission", as Marco called it. It was a stealth mission, Jake explained to us, and didn't need the whole team. Jake, Marco, and Rachel were there to see if it had anything to with extra terrestrials, their area of expertise. Harry and I were there to see if it was anything magical.

            I pushed a branch out of my face. We were just outside a "nuclear power plant". According to the Animorphs, it actually was housing the Yeerk's latest diabolical plan. We didn't exactly know what was in there, but it had something to do with why we Aniwizards were here.

            Harry and I had just acquired flies.

            And that's the thing I can't believe I did.

            We were going to morph flies and infiltrate the Yeerk base. I personally thought they were nuts, especially after they told me about Yeerk Gleet BioFilter. From the look on Harry's face, he was thinking along the same lines as me.

            "Okay, let's morph," Jake said.

            I closed my eyes and pictured the fly with a shudder. I couldn't even open my eyes to watch, for fear I would be violently sick if I did.

            However, nothing could stop me from feeling what was happening to my body. I felt a stick-like pair of legs burst forth from my chest. I felt my mouth reshape into pincers. I felt two gossamer wings form on my back. I felt hard, black exoskeleton cover my skin. And then I felt myself… _falling_!

            YAAAH!

            My eyes popped open. The world rushed up above me. The ground was approaching at an alarming rate. Yet, I could still feel the ground beneath my feet. On the way down, my eyes bulged and became compact, making the world a variety of red-blue-purple television screens.

            When the morph was completed, I shoved the instincts in the back of my mind.

            I can't believe I just did that, I said. I could barely make sense of the muddle of images that came to me through the fly's eyes. 

            I can't believe I'm alive, retorted Marco, I mean, I go and fight parasitic alien slugs for a hobby. I don't have a life anymore.

            You never had a life, Rachel shot back.

            He heaved a mental sigh. Five to one. Does it ever end?

            I experimentally buzzed my gossamer wings. I shot off into the air like Harry's Firebolt. I swear, it seemed like I was going 150 miles per hour! I gave a mental shriek and flipped upside down. The ground fell away. This was _awesome_!

            _Whoa! cried Harry as he, too, took off._

            Follow me, everybody, Jake said, And _act natural_.

            No one questioned him. I was so used to Harry being the leader of the group that I was surprised _he hadn't said anything. Well, I thought, we __are in Jake's territory._

            I buzzed over to the building and hovered in the air. Jake flew up and around the doorframe, looking for some kind of crack or fault in the masonry for us. I flipped upside down and buzzed leisurely around the door.

            Aha! Jake yelled.

            Find it? asked Harry.

            Yup. There's a crack between the wood and the BioFilter on the top. It's a tight fit but I think I can make it through… There was a pause as he worked himself into the crack. I heard him grunt. …And there! I'm through!

            I'm next, Harry volunteered. I watched—well, as well as I could watch—in anticipation as he flew away from me to the spot where Jake had disappeared. He wedged himself into the crack and popped out of view.

            Harry? I called anxiously.

            Silence.

            Harry? I called again.

            I'm—fine, he grunted. Pause. And—I'm—through!

            My turn, I said, buzzing up before someone else could. The crack _was_ very small. I was surprised Harry and Jake had made it through. I hesitated a moment before going into it. Well, if Harry and Jake could do it…

            …So could I.

            My six tiny legs scrabbled to push my bloated body through. They shook dangerously. The fly senses I kept pushed at the back of my mind exploded with panic, telling me to get out and get out of there NOW. I scowled inwardly and continued to heave myself deeper into the crack.

            The crack became smaller, and harder to wiggle through. Now _I_ was starting to want out. The fly instincts clamored at me to go back, and get OUT of the small space. I pushed on farther, and suddenly found myself stuck.

            Hermione? asked Harry, in what I was _sure_ was private thought-speak.

            Harry, I whispered back. I'm stuck. I—I can't make it.

            Yes, you _can. I know you better than anyone else does, and I __know you don't give up this easily._

            Then you know me better than I know myself, I mumbled.

            Maybe I do, he retorted, But if you think you can't do this, maybe I don't.

            But I _can't! I wailed._

            Then do it for me, he said softly.

            I lapsed into silence. He said nothing more.

            _What am I kidding, I growled inwardly, _if Harry says I can do it, then I _can._

            I heaved with all the strength in my tiny fly body. I gasped with relief as I flew out into open air. I'm _out! I cried joyously._

            See? I knew you could do it, Harry said warmly, something very much like pride ringing in his tone.

            If I had been human, I would have blushed.

            Marco and Rachel got in without trouble. At least, that's what it sounded like, for they continued to bicker the whole way through. Jake sighed.

            Okay, what now, Prince Jake? asked Marco once he was out.

            Uuuum… Jake said, fumbling for an idea.

            How about we follow him? suggested Harry.

            I turned to see whom he was talking about. A man in a crisp business suit strode by us. He had neat and trim hair. Two bodyguards flanked him, both carrying guns in the hostlers on their belts.

            Yeah, follow him, but stay out of sight. Jake said. Privately, he told us, That's Visser Three.

            We flew after him. Jake told us afterward that we were lucky that there were no other Gleet BioFilters in the building. When he finally stopped, we were in a gigantic room and up on a balcony-type platform. It stretched beyond the limits of my eyesight, but I could see the one thing that sat in the middle of the room. Everyone gasped.

            What looked like a giant Dracon gun rested in the middle of the room. It was beyond large. How anything like this could be crafted without magic was a mystery to me. If I had had a mouth instead of a proboscis, my jaw would have been touching the floor.

            The man—Visser Three—brought a walkie-talkie like thing to his mouth. "Is the subject ready for testing?" he asked in a booming voice.

            "Yes, Visser," came the reply from over an intercom.

            A door in the wall slid open. Two Controllers came out, holding a harassed-looking man between them. He wore smart black robes that were extremely rumpled from being handled roughly. His wild eyes darted around the room. One glance told me he was a wizard.

            The Controllers forced the wizard against a platform. They shackled his hands and feet to the ground. He screamed at the top of his lungs, begging and pleading them to let him go.

            Visser Three's face was devoid of emotion. How could someone be so unfeeling? I shuddered.

            The Controllers cleared the floor. The door they had entered through sealed tightly behind them. They watched the room from a glass window in the wall.

            "Prepare the weapon," the Visser ordered into his walkie-talkie thing.

            The big Dracon gun hummed. With the squeal of metal against metal, it shifted downward so that it aimed at the poor wizard on the platform. The wizard screamed louder and struggled against his bonds. "No! _No_! Let me go!" he shrieked, eyes rolling.

            "Fire," the Visser said. It was just a word, a word that rang throughout the room, a word that decided of the fate of the wizard below, a word that revealed what the Dracon cannon actually was.

            But I have never been more sickened in my life.

            The response was instantaneous. I heard grinding gears. The whole Dracon cannon jerked. A jet of light exploded from the barrel of the cannon. The wizard screamed again, but it was lost in the roaring of the machine. He disappeared from view beneath a tidal wave of light and heat.

            The Dracon gun reversed direction. Instead of expelling the light, it began to take it in again. I stared, transfixed by the sight. The thing that struck me, though, was the fact that more light that had been shot out was being sucked back in again.

            A _lot more._

            When the monstrous thing stopped, I focused on the wizard again. He hung limply in his shackles. Groaning, he lifted his head toward the Visser. He shook from head to toe.

            "My—magic…" he croaked, looking terrified, "Where's—my—magic?"

            "My dear man," the Visser said, eyes dancing wickedly, "It is no longer yours, for I have taken it. It is _mine now."_

            My tiny fly heart nearly stopped beating. A device that took away a wizard's magic? Such a weapon in the hands of our enemy was sentencing us our deaths!

            Uuuh, Jake? asked Marco.

            Yeah, Marco? replied Jake in a hushed voice.

            Don't look now, but I think we've been discovered.

            As one, Animorphs and Aniwizards turned to see a hand the size of Hogwarts coming down at us.

            AAAAHHHHH!

            RUN AWAY!

I _LIKE_ MY GUTS!

            WE'RE GONNA _DIE!_

            HOLY HIPPOGRIFFS!

            We darted out of the giant hand's way. It crashed against the railing with a world-shattering sound. I zipped away just as Visser Three turned around and demanded, "What are you doing?"

            "Visser! There were _flies!"_

            "Then _kill them! They might be Andalite bandits!"_

            The second bodyguard drew his gun and fired at us. One shot narrowly missed Visser Three's head. Another was inches away from hitting Marco.

            _INSAAAAAAANE! Marco howled, hightailing it out of the room._

            "DON'T SHOOT AT THEM, YOU FOOL!" bellowed the Visser, "SWAT THEM!"

            We were all ready down the hall. Visser Three started to demorph, shredding the suit he had on. The two Controllers stomped after us.

            I spotted the Gleet BioFilter down the next hall we entered. Look! I yelped.

            We all turned. No matter how fast it seemed we were going, the Controllers were steady gaining on us. They would be on us by the time we got to the BioFilter.

            I pumped my gossamer wings. Just as I reached the crack in the wall, a hand came down on top of me. I darted to the right and wedged myself into the crack again.

            That's where our flight ended. My whole body ached. I fell limply in the crack and rested.

            Everyone here? Everyone okay? demanded Jake, his thought-voice panting. 

            I'm fine, Harry said feebly, Tired, but fine.

            Everyone mumbled his or her agreement with Harry's statement. We rested for a few moments before we agreed to go home.

            But that was when the whole world exploded.

            I screamed. If the others did too, it was lost in the roaring all around me. Heat burned my wings and limbs, making them virtually useless. I was suddenly blind. My senses went dead, but I could still feel that horrible heat pressing down on me. 

I was burning… burning… burning…

            I was seeing gray… gray… gray…

            Black.

~*~

            My head pounded. I could feel how torn my throat was. Blood coated my mouth. Pain made my whole body throb. My eyelids fluttered weakly.

            Someone held my head up and put a cup to my lips. I was too weak to gag on the disgusting liquid that cascaded down my throat. I made a small noise as the pain in my throat was enhanced, then slowly faded away as it healed.

            I squinted up at Harry, who gingerly placed the cup of Soothing Solution down beside him on the grass. My head was on his lap. His emerald eyes were wide with anxiety.

            "Harry?" I whispered.

            He ran a hand down my face. "Yes?" he replied, voice equally soft.

            "What happened?"

            He thought about this, eyes closed. "They hit the Gleet BioFilter with a Dracon beam. We flew through the air and hit some forty meters away, in the woods. The Animorphs and I were just conscious enough to demorph. You, however… you had demorphed in the explosion. The fire got down your throat and burned your innards. You were unconscious when we found you.

            "Marco morphed horse and we took you home slung over his back. I wanted to, but my wand and broom were here and I had no useful morphs. I knew you needed medical attention immediately, but that was the fastest way we could find.

"I managed to heal most of the damage with a potion I found in your infinite bag. It didn't work on your throat, so I used the Soothing Solution I found."

He gathered me up in his arms and kissed me on the mouth. "I was so _worried," he whispered._

I stroked his cheek. "Don't worry, I'm fine now," I whispered back, kissing him back weakly.

He sighed in relief and held onto me tightly. "I thought I'd _lost you."_

            "Don't ever think that, Harry," I said, squeezing his shoulders, "You'll never lose me. _Ever."_

            He kissed me again and, as I kissed him back, I prayed with my heart, mind, and soul that I could keep that promise.

**A/N: OH-MY-GOD. ::peers through fingers to see the last time updated:: Eep. ::closes fingers, peeks again, and squeaks:: I'm _so sorry_. I didn't mean to! I got caught up in my original story. I have typed 50 computer pages of it since the last time I've updated this, _and_ I've had writer's block. Christmas is just around the corner, I've had homework, and I've been busy. I AM SO SORRY! I'm trying to get back into writing this! Please don't hurt me!!**

**I just want to take this time now to wish you season's greetings. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! Have a good time sitting around the Xmas tree, menorah, or whatever you people who celebrate Kwanzaa have!! Remember, 'tis the season to be jolly (_and_ forgiving)!!**

**Present-dazed and in the Christmas spirit, this is Padfoot, over aaaand out!**


	5. Trial and Error: Tobias

Chapter 5 Trial and Error (Tobias) 

            Tobias the Amazing Bird Boy here.

            "Okay, an Anti-Magic Ray? I mean, the Anti-Morphing Ray was bad enough. We didn't even know if that _worked_ or not. This is _so_ not good," Marco said, throwing himself down on a bale of hay. He stuck a piece in his mouth and chewed on it.

            It was the day after the stealth mission. We were all in the barn, a.k.a. Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, both Animorphs and Aniwizards. The Aniwizards had taken up temporary residence with Ax and me. If it rained, they stayed in Ax's scoop. Otherwise, they slept outside under the stars.

            "For once in my life, I agree with him," Rachel said, rubbing her temples.

            Marco froze. His eyes slowly grew round. He looked up at her with exaggerated awe. "It's a _miracle_," he said in a stage whisper.

            "Shut _up_," she growled.

            I ruffled my feathers. The thought of the Anti-Morphing Ray—and the torture I went through—still made my skin crawl. Sometimes, I could even hear Taylor's voice at night.

            _Not_ a pleasant experience.

            "What we need to find out right now is whether or not Voldemort is involved," Harry said, pacing the length of the barn, "And, if he is, what's in it for him. Voldemort is worse than Visser Three, if you're in my shoes."

            "If anything's in it for him, it's probably you," Jake said shortly.

            Harry looked up at him, a dead look in his emerald eyes. "I know."

            "But still, Voldemort and Visser Three working together is bad news," Cassie added.

            Ron leaned forward on the arms of his wheelchair. "If you ask me, You-Know-Who is the one who created the Anti-Magic Ray. Harry here's a witness to the fact Voldemort knows all sorts of old, forgotten magic. Remember Professor Dumbledore? I bet you ten Knuts that he's using the same spell."

            "No, that can't be it," Hermione said, shaking her head impatiently, "I looked that spell up in the Restricted Section. You have to be able to transfer the magic immediately to another person or it's lost forever. Voldemort—_and Visser Three—would never just waste magic like that."_

            She is correct, Ax said, shifting his weight, Visser Three will never give up power. Magic is a power that no other Yeerk in the universe possesses. There will be no way in which he will throw it away.

            Ginny said a very unladylike word. "Magical Yeerks? De-magicked wizards? If that's the case, we might as well kiss Earth goodbye."

            Not necessarily, I said, We're still here, aren't we? Animorphs and Aniwizards could take them down.

            "Who says their magic wouldn't work against us?" demanded Rachel.

            "There are only so few of us," Cassie said quietly.

            "It'll be _target practice for the Yeerks! We wouldn't pose any sort of a threat!" cried Marco. _

            "The only way to win is to destroy the Anti-Magic Ray," Harry said, punching one fist into the other. "I could blow it up easily with a spell I learned during the Triwizard Tournament. I just need someone to cover me."

            "Kicking Yeerk butt? Destroying their biggest shot at Earth? I'm in!" Rachel said.

            Hermione held up her hand. "We can't just run in there. We need to think this out. This is a _nuclear power plant we're talking about. It'll have defenses."_

            "She's right, guys," Jake chimed in. "We'll have to take security out before we go in. Shut off the alarms and cameras. Knock out the guards. Destroy the Gleet BioFilter."

            I can shut off the alarms and cameras, Prince Jake. I also think I could short-circuit the Gleet BioFilter. Ax. Of course.

            "I can get the guards with a Stunning Spell," Ron said helpfully. "Usually people think twice about hitting a person in a wheelchair."

            "I'll stay with Ron," Ginny put in, "In case he needs help."

            "I'll cover Harry's back when we're inside," Rachel said.

            "Me too," said Hermione.

            Marco took the piece of hay out of his mouth. "I'll stay with my buddy Ax. Maybe I can help him with the 'puters."

            Ax made a noise that suspiciously sounded like a snort. Marco ignored it.

            I'll be your eye-in-the-sky coverage, I said.

            "And I'll be with Harry," Jake said, "To make sure all goes well."

            Cassie remained silent.

            "What? What's the matter?" he asked, sensing something wrong.

            She clenched her hands into fists and looked at the ground. She looked about ready to be sick. "I—I don't know, Jake. For some reason, I have the feeling something's going to go terribly wrong."

            Jake squared his jaw. "Well if something _does_ go wrong, we'll face it together. Like we always do."

            She looked away. "Okay. I—I guess I'll go with you."

            And only minutes later, we arrived at the new Yeerk base.

            We had all morphed thestral to get there. Ron and Ginny rode on Harry and Hermione, and Jake carried Ron's wheelchair. Ax had a makeshift laptop slung around his neck. We arrived without much fanfare.

            We demorphed. Ax settled himself with his laptop over by the plant's power generator. Using it, he managed to shut off the cameras and alarms and Gleet BioFilters. Don't ask me how he did it. I have _no idea_.

            I took off and soared on the sweet thermals over the plant. I kept my eye on what was going below. There were six guards I could see. Two in the front, two at the side entrance, and two at the back. There were probably more inside.

            All clear, Ron, I clarified. 

            With that done, Ron laboriously wheeled himself to the guards standing at the door. Ginny walked beside him, as he'd forbidden her to push him. As all the Yeerks at Hogwarts had either died or had been transfigured, the guards had no idea who he was.

            "Wait a minute, kid," one guard said, approaching him. "This ain't no place to play."

            "Too bad we didn't come to play," Ron said, raised his wand, and yelled, "_Stupefy!"_

            The guy dropped as if he'd been hit over the head without so much as a yelp. The other guard went to signal the alarm, but he was down before he had moved more than an inch.

            Brother and sister did the same to the other guards. It took about ten minutes to take them all down.

            We chose to go in through the side entrance. Us Animorphs morphed our battle morphs. Ax and Marco stayed behind, to keep the security system off and to sound the alarm if Yeerk reinforcements showed up.

            We moved quickly and silently through the corridors. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny took down everyone in our way with Stunning Spells, leaving a path of fallen Controllers behind us. Secretly, I was glad. This would be a quick, in-and-out mission. No detours. 

            But that, of course, had to end.

            "_Stupefy," Harry hissed at the next guard we came to, the guard protecting the Anti-Magic Ray._

            The guard whirled and held up—a wand! "_Protego_!"

            Harry gasped as his wand was wrenched upward. The spell bounced off the Shield Spell and struck Ginny full in the chest. She gasped and sunk to the floor.

            "Death Eater!" Hermione cried.

The Death Eater took aim at Harry. "_Expelliarmus!" _

            Harry dodged and rolled away. I flapped and dove, spilling air from my wings. "TSSSEEERRR!"

            My talons dug into the guy's head. He screamed in pain, dropping his wand and clapping his hands to his bloodied head. Harry was now up. "_Stupefy_!"

            The Death Eater dropped, but his scream had not gone unnoticed. A flood of Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, human-Controllers, and Death Eaters streamed out of the room we were about to enter.

            Harry started to yell. His knees buckled and he fell, clapping his hands to the scar on his forehead. His wand fell to the floor and rolled away.

            We didn't need to wonder whether Voldemort was in this or not anymore.

            I dove for his wand. 

Too late! 

A Hork-Bajir had all ready scooped it up. He swung at me with his wrist blade. I braked quickly in the air, missed the blades by inches, and rose to the ceiling.

Gritting his teeth, Harry rolled to avoid the Taxxon that dove at him. He staggered to his feet, using the wall to help him, and clumsily threw himself at the nearest human-Controller. The Controller went down with a yell.

            I dive-bombed the Hork-Bajir nearest me and rose gasping. My wings were all ready tiring. They would give out soon if I didn't stop and rest.

            Tobias! Call Marco and Ax, _NOW! Jake gasped, snarling._

            You got it, Big Jake. _MARCO! AX! We need a little help in here!_

            We are coming, Tobias, replied Ax.

            Seconds later, they burst into the corridor.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

            A scarlet light shot past me, missing me by inches. I screeched and whirled around, just in time to see Hermione's wand jump into the air. She flew backward into the wall and was instantly seized by two Death Eaters.

            Harry saw. "NOOO!" he screamed in fury, throwing himself at Hermione's captors. Another Death Eater grabbed him and stunned him. He fell limp against the Death Eater's arms.

            Jake! A Death Eater has Harry! _And Hermione! I yelped._

            No! Get them! Rachel, Marco, Ax, Cassie, Ron, _someone_ get them!

            I—I can't, Cassie moaned, falling on her side. She didn't move again.

            Ax leapt from the battle, tail blade flashing. He sliced off a few of the Death Eater's fingers—or so he thought. His hand passed right through them. 

The man looked up at Ax. His sleeve fell away from his hand. I balked in horror when I saw that he had no hand… only an imitation of one that worked as well.

            "Wormtail!" howled Ron, flying by on his wheelchair, "You smelly rat, eat this! _Perfectus Totalus!"_

            The man was suddenly gone and, in his place, a mouse. A mouse… _prey_!

            I flapped, turned, and dove for the man-turned-rat Ron had called Wormtail. Wormtail scurried away through the door. I screeched and tried to avoid the wall, but it was too late. I hit and crumpled, dazed.

            I was fully aware of what was going on around me, but unable to do anything. My wing was broken. I watched in horror.

            Someone knocked Ron's wheelchair over. He yelped as he was tossed to the ground. He struggled to get away, but a Hork-Bajir picked him up and carried him away. He fought fiercely, but to no avail.

            The same happened to Harry.

            Fall back! Everyone, _get out! Someone get Tobias and Ginny! Jake roared._

            What about Harry, Ron, and Hermione? demanded Rachel.

            We can't do anything about that right now, he said, sounding mournful.

            They're our friends, and if they're infested—

            I _KNOW! Jake screamed. I shuddered. Jake _never_ shouted like that._

            I felt strong gorilla arms scooping me up. No, I said, Someone has to get them!

            Don't worry, Bird Boy, Marco said, Even if Jake tells me not to, _I'm coming back tonight._

            He had Ginny slung over his other shoulder. I closed my eyes as we bounded out of the building. Who knew if our wizarding friends would be coming out alive?

            We panted as we reached the forest. No one said anything as we demorphed. Or, in my case, morphed and remorphed.

            I looked down at Ginny. How do we wake her up? That was a pretty strong curse, and we don't know how to reverse it.

            Jake rubbed his temples. Cassie was crying silently. Rachel was continually clenching and unclenching her fists. Marco paced. Ax carefully looked away into empty space.

            "We'll get them back," Jake said quietly. "We can't just leave them there. They're our friends and our allies. They know our secrets. They've saved our lives." He looked up at us, meeting each of our eyes squarely. "We attack tonight. At dusk."

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuun! Sorry to leave you hanging. Heh, heh. I liked to title of the next chapter to much to converge them. Be proud of me, people, I actually have a plot for this story now!! And no, Invader Nina, I didn't take the last fly scene from one of the books. All the Animorph action you see in the Aniwizard Adventures is all totally original.

**Stick around for "Chapter 6: Personal Hell (Hermione/Ron/Harry)"!!**


	6. Personal Hell: Hermione: Ron: Harry

Chapter 6 Personal Hell (Hermione/Ron/Harry) 

---------------

            _"We have captured them."_

_            "Yes, I know. Do you not remember? I have a… hmmm… how would you put it…_connection_ to Potter that you do not. Unnecessary, pesky, but useful."_

_            "I don't understand why you don't let me infest him once he is captured."_

_            "Have you not told me that a voluntary host is much easier to control than an involuntary host?"_

_            "It's true."_

            "Then let me have my say with him, and I promise you he will come running into our arms."

---------------

            My name is Hermione Granger.

            It felt like someone had hit me over the head with a frying pan. Not that I actually knew what that felt like, but it doesn't matter. My head was _throbbing_. I moaned.

            The Death Eaters dragged me down the corridor. Two Hork-Bajir peeled themselves from the battle to follow me, just in case I might try to escape.

            I moaned again.

            "Stun her," said one Death Eater, "She might try to get away."

            "No!" I yelled, though it left my lips as more of a whisper. "_No_."

            "_Stupefy."_

            "Ach," I said. Again I felt as if someone hit me on the head with a cinder block. Except, this time, I blacked out.

            "_Ennervate."_

            I groaned when I woke up. For one terrifying second, I had no idea where I was. I sat up and looked about me wildly. My heart jumped into my throat. "Harry? Where am I? Where are you? _Harry?"_

            "Interesting," said a voice that sent chills down my spine, "Interesting that he should be the person you call for when you awaken."

            I whirled around and gasped. There, in the doorway, stood the person that had given me nightmares ever since I had first looked upon his face. There stood the person who had attempted to murder Harry numerous times. There was the person who had murdered countless people.

            There stood Lord Voldemort.

            I backed into the wall, panicking. I had no wand. I was defenseless!

            I would never be able to fulfill my promise to Harry.

            "What do you want with me?" I asked, breathless with fear.

            "Lots of things, my girl," Voldemort laughed, a cold high-pitched sound, "Lots of things."

            I cautiously skirted the wall. Could there possibly be a door behind me? And, if so, would it be open?

            "There is no other door but this," he said, gesturing to the door he was in.

            As if he had read my mind.

            "You won't get them from me willingly," I said in a much braver voice than I felt.

            "I didn't expect to, my dear." He approached me. I pressed myself against the concrete wall.

            "What do you want?" I asked, stalling for time.

            He thought about this. "Why, I want you to mentally break down the one prophesized as my equal."

            Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. My insides went icy. "Prophesized?"

            He pretended to look shocked, which was much more a horrid twisting of his face. "Dear me, your beloved Harry never told you? I'm quite sure the Mudblood-loving fool Dumbledore has told him by now."

            "No," I whispered.

            "Doesn't he _trust you, girl? After all, he _loves _you, correct?"_

            "Yes," I said, knowing the answer, "Yes, he _does_ trust me. He _does love me. And you will never make me think otherwise, even if what you say is true. He was only waiting for the right time to tell me!"_

            "Are you _sure?"_

            I hesitated.

            "See what I mean?"

            "No," I said softly, "No. I don't."

            Voldemort sighed, agitated. "You are quite stubborn." He stopped. Thought about what he had just said. "I _hate that in a person."_

            I spat at his feet. "Good."

            "You will pay for that insolence, girl!" he cried, raised his wand, and shouted, "_Crucio!"_

            My eyes widened. I tried to throw myself out of the way, but I didn't have Harry's reflexes. It struck my shoulder.

            I screamed, but the roaring in my ears was so loud I couldn't hear it. Pain beyond pain! Every bone in my body was _on fire_! My skin was surely burning off! I couldn't see! My thoughts were a jumbled mess. I—was—going—to—_die…_

            I gasped as he lifted the curse. My entire body continued to ache. I coughed and choked on the blood in my throat. Hot bile rose from my stomach. I bit it back. Forced myself to swallow.

            "I have a name," I wheezed.

            "What?" demanded Voldemort.

            "My name is Hermione," I said in a quiet, dangerous voice.

            Back rushed the pain. The pain… so horrible… couldn't think…

            "Do you wish to die for him?" demanded Voldemort shrilly.

            I looked him dead in his snakey crimson eyes. "Yes. If I must."

            He looked ready to do so. But then he wiped his face of emotion, so quickly his anger had seemed a farce. That shook me. "No. Not yet, at least. You have a purpose to serve."

            He snapped his fingers. Three Death Eaters swept into the room. Two grabbed my arms and pinned me to the wall. The third held a crystal ball the size of a bowling ball. Inside it whirled images, spinning so fast I couldn't tell one from the other. Dimly, I thought, _but I'm not a Seer… I can't See…_

            The Death Eater gave the crystal ball to Voldemort, bowing. Voldemort took it, studying the images inside. "See, you will do as I say, _Hermione_." He spat my name as if it were a swearword. "For soon you will not remember Harry as the sweet, brave person you think he is. I have crafted a past for you. It is quite an ingenious past, if I do say so myself. No longer will you love him. Everything he has done to make you love him has been changed. Indeed, now you will _despise him._

            "In fact, you will now be desperately in love with his best friend. Ronald Weasley will not be your friend, but your lover. Do you know how much that will pain him? You will make him believe he has lost everything, and he will give up on life.

            "I have also changed Mr. Weasley's past. He's the sweet, clever boy everyone but you has underestimated. He sees goodness in Harry that there never was in your fictional pasts. Which is why you came here in the first place. Won't it be wonderful?"

            My heart nearly stopped. Tears blurred my vision. "_No_," I whispered.

            He smiled, lips curling over greenish-yellow teeth. "Kiss your memories goodbye, Hermione."

            He said the spell.

            I suddenly had a very nasty, throbbing headache. In my mind's eye, I could see my life in reverse. Knowledge of what had happened during those years disappeared. 

I was losing everything… I was losing _myself… It was slipping away, disappearing…. I couldn't stop it… __NO!_

            Everything stopped at the point where I received my Hogwarts letter. Then everything was on fast forward. A new past, nothing more than a yarn, weaved itself in my mind. Alien thoughts invaded my head. 

For one last moment, I grasped at my true self. _Harry… I thought tenderly. My mind caressed the very idea of him. I pictured him, the sweet, brave boy that had lost everything but me. The boy who loved me as I loved him. The boy I had promised to be there for, for all eternity. _

And then all was lost.

~*~

            My name is Ron Weasley.

            And I was being dragged to my doom.

            How the Hork-Bajir managed to carry me without gouging me with his blades is a mystery to me, but that was the last thing I my mind. I had just seen Hermione being dragged away by Death Eaters, and Harry Stunned on the floor.

            "Let me go! _Let me go!" I screamed, struggling. I wanted to kick him, but my legs wouldn't move. All they did was shake with the effort. It was still months before they would totally heal over. I yelled an impolite word at them._

            "Stop, dapsen human!" growled the Hork-Bajir in a guttural voice.

            I ignored him, so he beamed me in the head with a hard fist.

            Then, to put it shortly, I went unconscious.

            When I awoke, the vilest man currently on the planet stood above me. I shuddered when I saw his face.

            "Voldemort," I hissed, struggling to prop myself up on my elbows.

            He smiled malevolently. "So you recognize me? I'm touched."

            My head was throbbing as if I'd been stunned by twenty people. I closed my eyes and groaned. I didn't want this. I never did. But that came with the price of being Harry's friend. Sure, our friendship had our rough patches sometimes, but I was his friend to the end. Nothing would ever change that.

            "I just came from seeing your friend… Hermione, I believe?"

            My eyes snapped open. Hermione was my friend as much as Harry was. She wasn't… dead, was she?

            "No, I haven't killed her… _yet." Voldemort said nastily._

            He'd read my mind! "Why not?"

            "Because you two are of use to me."

            My heart froze. "What?"

            "Well, let me put it this way… Hermione has had a change of heart—excuse me, a change of mind. And I believe that you are about to have one, also."

            "_Never."_

            "Oh, contraire. You will be an aide in my plan. I'm sure the girl would be happy to explain to you before she dies. But I _will_ tell you one thing: I have made you a new past. Do you like that?"

            I struggled to move, but Voldemort put his booted foot on my chest and pinned me down. He snapped his fingers. The door behind him opened and a Death Eater came in, carrying a crystal ball the size of a Quaffle. Images swirled around inside it. My stomach knotted.

            He smiled again. It didn't reach his crimson eyes. "Luckily for you, I have no need for anyone to hold you down. You are quite helpless on your own."

            I closed my eyes and grit my teeth. "Do your worst."

            "It'll be my pleasure," he said, and whispered the spell.

            My life went into reverse. I saw it flashing by, saw it disappearing into the crystal ball that Voldemort was holding. Suddenly, I had no idea where I was and what I was doing. My life… my memories… the things that made me, well, _me… were unraveling, spinning away into nothingness._

            Then, everything was rushing forward. Images, things I have never seen before, whirled by at alarming rate. For about a nanosecond, I held onto myself but that, too, fell away from me.

            And that's what scares me.

It took seconds for me to become someone else.

~*~

            My name is Harry Potter.

            And I'm scared.

            Yeah, big surprise. I still get scared. In fact, I wasn't scared, I was _terrified. I was about to lose the only things that mattered most to me: my girlfriend and my best friend._

            Though I was Stunned, the spell wasn't a very effective one. I could still think and see, but I couldn't move. Not even my eyes. But out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Tobias breaking his wing. I could see Hermione being taken away. I could see Ron being dragged down the corridor.

            And I was afraid.

            What would the Death Eaters do to them? Would they be tortured? Would they be killed?

            And if they were, wouldn't it be _my fault?_

            I was dimly aware that I was being dragged into the room with the Anti-Magic Ray. My fear upped two notches. Not only would I lose my friends, I would lose my magic!

            I could vaguely feel myself being shackled onto the platform beneath the Anti-Magic Ray. I wanted desperately to be able to fight back. I wanted to go save Hermione and Ron. I wanted to keep my magic!

            "_Ennervate."_

            I sagged against my bonds, head hanging. My scar seared with pain. It throbbed, screaming at me that my greatest enemy was nearly bursting with happiness. I forced myself to look up into the face of the person who had reversed the Stunning Spell.

            I forced myself to look up into the face of Voldemort.

            "We meet again, Potter," Voldemort said evenly, masking the triumph he felt.

            I spat at his feet. It soiled the hem of his robe. If he had had a nose, he would have wrinkled it.

            "You don't seem pleased at seeing me again," he said coolly.

            I scowled up at him. "You killed my parents," I snarled, "And probably my best friends. My hate is as strong as ever. Possibly stronger."

            "Well, as you might want to know, your friends have not perished. Yet."

            Silence.

            "What have you done to them?" I demanded.

            "You shall see."

            "What are you going to do with me? Infestation? Termination?"

            Voldemort smiled. "Worse." He said. He turned, robe snapping, and strode away. I watched as he reappeared on the platform overlooking the room. He gave the signal.

            The Anti-Magic Ray thrummed. I struggled against the shackles, but they didn't budge. I closed my eyes and thought of something that made me angry. Maybe—just maybe—if I got mad enough, something would blow up.

            Things tended to explode whenever I got angry enough.

            I thought of Aunt Marge. I thought of Voldemort. I thought of Visser Three.

            Nothing happened.

            But then the Anti-Magic Ray released.

            I screamed when it struck me full in the chest. Instantaneously, I knew that the Anti-Magic Ray was, in fact, powered by magic. It flooded my body, grasping every particle of magic I possessed.

            It was pain enough to challenge the Crucious Curse. The magic in the Ray was countering the magic in my body, forcing it beyond its limits, pushing against the walls of my skin. My back arched against the cold metal.

            Then, suddenly, the process reversed. I shrieked. All my magic was being _dragged out of my skin into the huge metal contraption. My skin burned. My heart seemed to slow. It felt like they were pulling out my insides with magic!_

            Quite abruptly, it stopped.

            I slammed against the metal platform, gasping. The tingly presence in my chest that I had been aware of all my life was gone. I felt like an empty shell. Emptiness… I was completely empty…

            My heart was gone, it seemed.

            "No," I whispered.

            Two Death Eaters came over and released me. A third handed me my wand. I stared down at it blankly. What was I to do with it now that I had no magic?

            The Death Eaters took my by the arms and lead me out of the power plant. Was Voldemort letting me go? Why was he letting me go?

            I stood shock-still in the fading sunlight. A part of me was missing. There was a hollow space where my heart should have been. I stared at the sky, a new horror occurring to me. I wouldn't be able to fly.

            I walked into the woods and sat down on a rock. The Animorphs were gone. Where were they? Why hadn't they tried to help? And then I remembered how wounded everyone was. I couldn't blame them. This wasn't their fault. It was all mine.

            I heard footsteps and jerked at the sound. There were Hermione and Ron, approaching me. I couldn't believe my eyes. They both looked complete and whole and normal… except for the soft expression on Ron's face and the twisted look on Hermione's.

            Immediately, I was up and running. I slammed into Hermione, holding her close to me, lips searching her face. I found her lips and kissed her deeply. Tears streamed down my face. She was all right! _She was all right_! I _hadn't lost everything!_

            I let go and fell back when she struggled against me. Her face was even more twisted then when she had first come out. Fiery ire radiated from her eyes. I looked at her, confused and hurt.

            And that's when she slapped me.

            The sound seemed to echo through the forest. Pain seared in my cheek, worse than even the Crucious Curse. The hollow feeling in my chest pounded.

            "W-what?" I stuttered. "Hermione?"

            "Don't you _dare touch me like that _again_!" she shrieked, her cheeks blotched. "I'm not _your_ girlfriend, you fool!"_

            "Hermione!" I cried out, angry and sad and confused at the same time, "What did he do to you?"

            "_Voldemort did nothing to me," she said haughtily._

            "Why did you just kiss my girlfriend?" Ron asked softly.

            My heart froze. My stomach began to do various acrobatics.

            _His girlfriend?_

            And then I knew what Voldemort had done to them. He had changed them, taking them away from me, changing their image of me. No longer was Hermione the person who I had loved. No longer was Ron the person I would trust with my life.

            He had changed them.

            He had taken them away from me.

            He had hit me where it hurt most.

            He had made my life my own personal hell.

**A/N: Uh-oh! What's gonna happen now!? Heh, heh, heh. That's for me to know and you to find out. Yes, I've planned for Harry to lose his magic from the beginning. No violence please. Hermione and Ron being changed? New addition to the plot! Squee! Now I must leave you. See you in "Chapter 7: Freaky Feelings-Radar (Cassie)"!!**


	7. Freaky FeelingsRadar: Cassie

Chapter 7 Freaky Feelings-Radar (Cassie) 

            My name is Cassie.

            And I was terribly, horribly depressed.

            I had _known something bad was going to happen. I had even told Jake. But I had gone anyway, and now this had happened._

            Silent tears trickled down my face. I put down the wounded raccoon's meds and wiped them away. I looked down at my hands. They were shaking.

            Jake was pacing again. Ginny lay Stunned on a bale of hay, eyes wide open and unseeing. Rachel clenched and unclenched her fists. Marco stared into space. Tobias preened rapidly. Ax stood unmoving. He hadn't moved for the past six hours.

            I followed Jake with my eyes as he walked over to the barn doors and looked out. My parents would be away at the Gardens all night. The Bengal tiger was sick, sick enough for both of them to be called in.

            He looked straight into the sun's fading rays. Without turning around, he announced, "It's time."

            I closed my eyes and focused on the thestral DNA inside me. Immediately, the changes began. You see, I have this special talent with morphing that the others don't. I can kind of control the way my morph goes. Ax told me that I'm what Andalites call an _Estreen._

My eyes widened as they went colorless. You know Storm, from the X-Men? How her eyes go all white when she starts to use her powers? Well, that's what mine looked like.

Two great, leathery black wings sprouted from my back, just behind my shoulder blades. I momentarily stopped my morph to flex them. They unfurled and stretched, looking like a bat's. I vaguely wondered whether they could support the weight of a human. 

            Creepy, Marco said. It was the first time he had spoken since we had left the plant. I glanced over at him. He was halfway through his own morph. You look like a demon.

            "Thanks," I said dryly, just as fangs slid down past my lower lip. My skin rippled and sprouted silken fur. I shuddered myself as my skin sagged when all muscles and fat were sucked into Z-space, and then went taut.

            My neck thickened and lengthened just as my spine cracked and twisted, forcing me down on all fours. Knees and elbows cracked as they reversed direction. Eyes slid to the sides of my face. My skull and face pushed forward as if someone had taken hold and pulled.

            I watched as my hands and feet liquefied, becoming hooves. Course black hair sprouted, forming a mane and tail. My ears stretched.

            I shook myself as the changes completed. I could suddenly tell you where anyplace in the world was, and how to get there.

            Everyone ready? asked Jake, flicking his tail.

            Everyone murmured his or her consent. Without further ado, he trotted outside. We didn't have to hide ourselves. Our very natures were sufficient, for one can see a thestral only if they have seen a person die.

            Jake reared back on his legs and flapped his powerful wings. I did the same, launching immediately into the air. I _knew_ where I wanted to go.

            The world became a blur. Thestrals can really move. My human mind couldn't begin to comprehend the whirl of colors flashing by, but my thestral mind could. 

            It took about ten seconds, tops, to reach the plant.

            We slowed in the air, circling like vultures. I stretched my nostrils to their limits. Maybe if I could smell a human in the nearby woods…

            There.

            I caught a whiff of something that smelled oddly like butterbeer, chocolate, sweat, and… and..

            _Torture?_

            I shrieked into the silent night air, reeling. Seconds later, the others caught it too. How someone could smell of torture is a mystery to me, but there was no doubting that scent.

            As soon as I wanted to know where Harry was, I knew. I swerved in the air, diving for him. This way!

            The others followed me without hesitation. Harry! I called, _Harry!_

            I landed with an audible thump. He sat on a rock, facing away from us. Without demorphing, I approached him and, as I approached, more and more scents hit me.

            Anger. Sorrow. Horror. Agony. Torture. Fear. Loneliness. Emptiness. Love. Hate.

            He had no need to turn around for me to see that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

            It was too much to bear. I demorphed quickly. The strain on my nose lifted. Quietly, I came to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

            That's when he turned to face me.

            And that's when I almost wished he hadn't.

            His face was twisted with all the emotions that I had smelled. The sparkle in his eyes had been put out. Tears streaked his face. My eyes widened.

            The other Animorphs tell me I have a thing for feelings, that I can tell when and what someone needs. Right now, I knew Harry needed someone there for him. I had no idea what had happened to him.

            Acting on impulse, I pulled him into a hug. His arms remained at his sides; his face, turned ahead unseeing. It was as if he couldn't feel me.

            I drew back, still clutching his shoulders. "Harry," I said softly, "Harry, what happened?"

            He looked into my eyes without really seeing. "It's gone," he whispered. "It's all gone."

            "What's gone?" I demanded, shaking him lightly.

            "Everything," he said, and closed his eyes.

            I dimly registered that my friends had demorphed and stood silently by my side. I could see Ron and Hermione out of the corner of my eye, half-obscured by shadows. However, I forgot about them and focused entirely on Harry.

            "What happened, Harry," I said gruffly, "You have to tell me what happened. If you don't, we'll never be able to fix anything."

            "They stunned me," he said, voice barely audible, "And brought me to the Anti-Magic Ray."

            My insides turned to ice. I knew what he was going to say, _knew_ it, but I sincerely hoped my intuition was wrong.

            "Voldemort—he used the Ray on me. It took all my magic, using magic. I felt it being pulled into the Ray. Then… he let me go. He did something to Ron and Hermione. I've lost them. They're gone. Everything is gone."

            "We'll get your magic back, Harry. We'll do everything we can. And don't worry about Ron and Hermione. They're right there."

            "No. They're not." He said, and retreated back into himself.

            Reluctantly, I drew away from him. I needed to see what had happened to Ron and Hermione. And why Harry was telling me they were gone, if they stood before his very eyes.

            "Ron, Hermione," I said, walking away from Harry, "I need to know what happened to you two."

            "Nothing," Hermione said, her face oddly twisted by a scowl, "And if something had, it would have been his fault. He's the reason we're in this bloody mess."

            I backed up a step. That wasn't something Hermione would say. What was going on here?

            "Ron?" I asked.

            He shrugged. "All I remember is waking up out here. I mean, I don't _feel_ any different."

            Standard Ron answer. I turned back to Hermione. "Why are you so mad at him?" I asked.

            Hermione's scowl deepened. "Because he's a stuck up snob. He's _always_ bragging about defeating Voldemort. He never gives Ron and I our due credit. After all, we're always the ones that pull him out of the stupid things he gets into. And then, as Ron and I are walking out of the plant, he runs up and _kisses me! I mean, talk about rude! He _knows_ that I'm Ron's girlfriend."_

            If you told me that my jaw had been hitting the floor, I'd have believed you. A few hours ago—at most—Harry and Hermione had been… well… deeply in love. I'd had a front row seat for their first kiss and, believe me, you would have expected fireworks to go off. 

            All of the things she had said about him were completely wrong. In no way was Harry a snob. He was sweet and kind and humble and I loved him as I would a favorite older brother. He always gave his friends their credit when it was due, even more than they deserved sometimes.

            And about Hermione being Ron's girlfriend? That didn't seem quite right. Ron had always respected Harry's relationship with her. The three had been close, as close as we Animorphs were. They couldn't all go King Arthur on us now!

            I opened my mouth to say something. Jake held up his hand, silencing me. "Guys, we need to continue this conversation back at the barn. If a Yeerk happens to walk in on us, we won't be looking very good. Morph thestral. We're going home."

            I began my morph without hesitation. I glanced over at Harry, who seemed to have done it just by rote. But then I saw that his clothes weren't melting into his morph, as it should have. I guess it was his magic that let him morph clothing.

            Harry, demorph, I said kindly. He did so. You need a morphing outfit now. Since you lost your magic, it looks as if you can't morph your clothes anymore. You can ride me, if you want.

            By then, I had completed my morph. Slowly, like a ghost, he walked over to me and clambered up on my back. Was it just my imagination, or did he feel extremely light for someone his age? Surely Ron didn't weigh as less!

            C'mon, guys, let's go home, Jake said, taking off.

            I followed. Harry wrapped his arms around my neck and held on tight. The world whipped by. Everyone was silent for the ride. I don't think anyone wanted to say anything.

            When we reached the barn, everyone demorphed. Harry walked emotionlessly into the barn and sat down on a bale of hay, staring in the space inches from his face.

            Hermione went as far away from him as possible. Ron wheeled in after her, looked confused, and finally went to join her. The rest of us trooped after, looking at them warily.

            Jake eyed Hermione suspiciously. "Hermione, could you please… er… wake Ginny up?" He pointed to the Stunned girl.

            Hermione looked over at Ginny and her eyes widened. She yanked her wand from her pocket and pointed it at Ginny, saying, "_Ennervate_."

            Ginny snapped into consciousness. "H-huh? W-where am I? Hermione and Ron were being dragged away! Harry! They took him! They'll kill him!" She shoved herself upright and swung her head around. "HERMIONE! RON! You're all right! HARRY! _HARRY! YOU'RE—you're…" She faltered, staring at Harry with wide eyes. "What happened to __you?"_

            He didn't answer her.

            "What happened to him?" she demanded.

            Jake cleared his throat. "He—um—he… lost his magic."

            Ginny's eyes, if possible, went bigger. "Oh, _Harry_," she whispered. She got up and walked timidly over to him. He didn't acknowledge her presence.

            She hesitated, glancing at Hermione, and took his hand. "Harry?"

            He jerked and looked up at her.

            She carefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "It's all right," she told him, "Don't worry. We'll always be here for you."

            He closed his eyes. Two tears trickled down his cheeks. 

            There was a long silence.

            "Maybe," Harry began, "Maybe I haven't lost everything."

            My face relaxed into a smile. I breathed a sigh of relief. So we hadn't lost Harry. At least, we hadn't yet. I sent a mental thanks out to Ginny for telling him that we'd _all be there when he needed us._

            I promised myself that I would get Harry's magic back. That I would get Hermione and Ron back for him. That everything will turn out all right.

            Voldemort had taken a lot of things from Harry.

            But he hadn't taken Harry's ability to hope.

**A/N: BLEEARG!!! I'm _so sorry_! It's been, like, two months! Aaaargh! Darn those midterms!!! Darn that schoolwork! Darn that nonexistent homework!**

**::cough cough:: Forgive me for taking so long. I mean, it's been so cold I barely got up out of bed. It's warm out now, thought! IT'S ABOVE 0 DEGREES! WAH HOO! Next year, I swear I'll move to Florida if it gets below zero again. People, they cancelled _school because it got to cold. It was too cold to __snow. (I swear we should have had that snow day anyway!)_**

**So, anywho, stick around for Chapter Eight: Lionhearted (Harry)!!! (which I'll try to put up before February vacation)**


	8. Lionhearted: Harry

Chapter 8 Lionhearted (Harry) 

            My name is Harry Potter.

            And I am empty.

            Only yesterday have I lost my magic, but it feels like centuries. Hermione won't come near me. Ron is always watching with wide, sympathetic eyes. They're totally different people. Only Tobias and Ginny sat near me. Ax had gone off to graze.

            I stared into the fading sunlight. Hermione had started a fire for us. It crackled merrily, so unlike the mood that surrounded it. Again, I could feel Ron's eyes on me. 

My scar prickled, perhaps the only magic I had left in me. I rubbed it for the twenty-third time that night.

            "Stop _doing_ that!" Hermione exploded.

            I jerked and looked up at her, as if slapped. "Stop doing what?"

            "Rubbing your scar! It's _bothersome_!"

            I flared my nostrils. "It's a habit."  
            "I don't _care_!"

            I let my eyes fall back down the fire. A frown twitched at my lips when I remembered the seventh obstacle for the Sorcerer's Stone. Back then Hermione had said that _I_ was the better wizard, that I was brave and a friend no matter what.

            "Leave him alone," Ginny snapped. "He's just been through a lot!"

            "He hasn't! That's just what he wants you to think!"

            "Please stop fighting," begged Ron quietly.

            All of you stop it, Tobias said irritably. You're not yourselves. I think the silence was better.

            Hermione continued to bicker. I drew into myself, reliving the Quidditch World Cup from fourth year. I ran over the plays in my head, gnawing on my lower lip. Now what plays could the Gryffindor team next year…?

            "Harry?"

            "Hawkshead Formation!" I yelled in reply.

            Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny stifled a giggle with her hand. A smile twitched at Ron's lips.

            "What in the world is a Hawks-whatchyamacallit?" demanded Marco, strolling over to the campfire. Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Ax were with him.

            I blinked. "Oh. Sorry. I was thinking of what plays the Gryffindor Quidditch Team can use next year. If there is one for me."

            "You could never play Quidditch anyway," Hermione retorted snippily.

            I winced.

            Marco sat down next to me and slung a brotherly arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, mate," he said in exaggerated British accent that made me grimace, "We all have girl trouble once in a while."

            "Marco," Jake warned, giving him a look.

            "Shutting up."

            Jake cleared his throat. "Harry, we've thinking. You don't have magic anymore, right? But you still have the ability to morph. If you want to, we can take you to the Gardens tonight to acquire some battle morphs tonight. Rachel will take you to the mall to buy a morphing outfit." 

He paused. I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off with, "But you don't have to if you don't want to."

I couldn't suppress the smile that twitched at the corners at my mouth. "If I can't use my magic, morphing is always my second choice."

            He visibly relaxed and grinned. "All right, then," he said, rubbing his hands briskly together, "To the Gardens, then. I've got a couple Chee filling in for us at home."

            "Chee?" I asked.

            "Poochi!" Marco said, laughing outright.

            Rachel glared. "No one thinks that's funny, nimrod. Erek and the Chee have helped us out with a lot of things _you_ can't handle. Which is too many times to name."

            "So what's a Chee?" asked Ron. He leaned forward in his wheelchair and settled for looking politely puzzled.

            Jake ran a hand through his hair and gave a sideways glance to the woods on his right. The air there shimmered. Ginny cried out in surprise and fell off the log we had dragged to the fire. I jumped in surprise and stared at what appeared.

            For a moment, I thought it was what Marco had said: a Poochi. It certainly looked like one. It was about five feet tall and had the look of a dog. Peering at it, I could tell that this was no living being but a robot—an android, probably. Dudley had watched enough sci-fi movies for me to know. It had, most likely, been hiding itself with a hologram.

            "I am a Chee," it said in a boy's voice. The air around it shimmered again and the robot was gone, replaced with a boy about our age. He grinned, eyes doing the familiar flick to my forehead. "I have heard a lot about you, Harry Potter."

            I blinked, amazed by what I had seen, and finally uttered, "Who hasn't?"

            Hermione glared daggers at me, but the android laughed. "Quite right!" he said in a flawless British accent. His visage flickered again, now transforming into a face I vaguely recognized as seeing in the Leaky Cauldron two years ago. "I've been called a lot of things over the years, but right now my name's Erek." He flicked back to being the boy again. "It's nice to meet you."

            He held out his hand. Warily, I took it and shook his hand. I felt a grasp equal to mine squeeze my hand, but I didn't feel the metallic paw I had seen beforehand. I was careful not to let the shock show on my face.

            "So, what are you? Exactly?" I asked when I had taken my hand back.

            Remorse crossed Erek's face for a moment. "I am an android, called the Chee. We Chee were created by a race called the Pemalites, to be their friends. The Pemalites were incredibly intelligent, but they were peaceful and programmed us against violence.

"An alien race called the Howlers came to our planet once, eons ago, and destroyed the species. The Chee were helpless against them. We took the last Pemalites to the only refuge we could find, which was here. They were doomed to die, however, so we Chee melded them together with wolves to form what you would call a dog."

He paused here. A spasm of sorrow wracked me for a moment when I the word dog triggered a memory of Sirius. I fought it back and choked down the lump in my throat.

            Erek "took a deep breath" and continued, "We have lived here since. Only now, however, have we learned of the existence of wizards. Your kind has hidden itself well. From what I have heard of wizards, though, you are one of the best." 

He nodded at the Jake, who's face colored instantly—or else it might have been a trick of the firelight. "Jake tells me that you are the most courageous wizard of them all and that you can be trusted by all means. I hope this is true, for no one—not even the Yeerks—know _all_ of our past."

            I nodded slowly, a smile stretching across my face. "Keeping secrets is something I happen to be particularly good at. You don't have to worry about me telling anything."

            Erek, who had looked uptight, relaxed. "I'm glad to hear it."

            I turned back to Jake. "Now how about we go get some morphs?" I asked.

            And, seconds later, I was riding Jake's thestral back to the Gardens.

            Tonight, it was only Jake, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, and me. Tobias and Ax had stayed behind with Hermione and Ron to make sure they did nothing to hurt our cover. Ginny stayed because she was too inexperienced in the matter. Besides, she had offered to help keep the four others in line.

            We landed, unnoticed by the guards. After all, how many people see someone die in their lifetime? Which, of course, brought my thoughts back to the painful memory of Sirius. I felt my eyes prickling and, annoyed at myself, held the tears back.

            I slid off Jake as he demorphed. "So, what battle morph have you been thinking of?" he asked when he had lost the horse face.

            I hadn't had to think about it. The moment Jake had said "battle morph," I was all ready envisioning the Gryffindor Lion with all its noble grace. "Lion," I said immediately.

            Marco looked extremely uncomfortable then. He glanced at Jake, who looked back with a stern look. I couldn't read his mind like I could read Voldemort's mood, but I could tell his thoughts went something like: "Don't give me that look, he's our _friend_."

            "This way," Cassie whispered, jerking her head at a door that led to a corridor behind the animal cages. She led us down a maze of halls. Finally, she froze in front of a door that was labeled "713". I stared at it.

            "In here," she said. "There's a lion and two lionesses. Lions are nocturnal, so they'll be fairly awake now. Be extremely careful and _try_ not to be afraid. That'll key them onto thinking you're prey. If he so much as starts to get on his feet, _get out of there_. Not even his handlers can get within five feet of him without him attacking them." She chewed on her lower lip. "Be _careful_, all right?"

            I offered her a smile. "Aren't I always careful?"

            Dead silence.

            "Okay, never mind."

            She swung the door open. Moonlight streamed into the corridor. It wasn't a full moon, much to Ax's relief. There would be no werewolf transformations for him tonight.

            When I stepped over the threshold, I stepped into a completely different world. Grass covered the extent of the cage, coming up to my waist. Scarce trees scattered the grass. Ahead, I saw a clearing and a small pond with a tree that had low branches. And, upon the branches, were draped two lionesses. Cassie shut the door behind me.

            I waded through the sea of grass to the clearing. Once I was within three feet of the clearing, I saw the mighty lion himself. He sat by the pond, tail pounding on the dirt every few seconds. He moved his head. The moonlight made his eyes glint demonic green in the dark.

            A gentle breeze rippled through the cage. It wafted my scent over to the lion. His nostrils widened as he sniffed and turned his head to me. His eyes dilated and fixed on me.

            Was I afraid?

            No.

            I had faced far worse things than a lion. I had faced death and war and creatures more violent than this giant house-cat. I mean, he looked almost like Crookshanks. And by no means was I afraid of Crookshanks, even a giant one.

            I cleared the grass and stood there for a moment. The lion measured me up. He was no more afraid of me than I was of him. He caught my eyes. I held them.

            Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. He padded lightly over to me. Once he was about two feet away, he stopped and looked up at me. His tail twitched back and forth.

            I took a step toward him. He held his ground and continued to stare intensely into my eyes. Carefully, I closed the gap between us.

            "May I?" I asked softly, extending my hand toward him.

            The lion bowed his head.

            My hand came down on his mane, into the think hair that felt rough and weathered. A sound reverberated through the lion, who pushed playfully against my hand. It took me a moment to realize that he was… _purring_.

            I couldn't stop the infectious smile that took control of my face. It turns out he_ was only a giant cat! I laughed softly when he pushed forcefully against my legs. I put my hand under his chin and concentrated, absorbing his DNA._

            The lion swayed for a moment as the acquiring trans settled on him. His eyes slid out of focus. They snapped back into focus again, so fast it startled me.

            I ran a hand down his back and murmured, "Thank you."

            The lion purred loudly.

            I turned and jogged lightly back to the door. He watched me go, eyes shining eerily in the moonlight.

            I rapped on the door so that Cassie would let me out. The door swung open immediately. She looked thoroughly relieved when I stepped back into the musty, damp corridor.

            "I didn't know lions purred," I said, rubbing lion fur off my hands onto my sweater.

            Cassie stared. "He _purred?"_

            I nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't at all violent. It was as if he were just a big kitten!"

            "He's never like that," she replied, mystified, "Are you _sure_ you don't have any magic left?"

            "Quite," I said, drawing my lips into a tight line.

            She shook her head. "C'mon," she said, "There are few other morphs you need. A power morph, like an elephant or a rhino, and a flying morph…"

            I tuned her out after that, thinking back on the lion. That lion had been supposedly violent, but it had been the picture of tame when I went to acquire it.

            Maybe I hadn't lost all my magic after all.

A/N: Ta daaa! That was actually quick! Wah hoo! Well, anyway, I hoped you like that 'un. I couldn't wait to type this chapter! Squee! Lions are official coolness.

And a quick note to Baranth: THIS story takes place in the U.S., where the Animorphs are (which state will remain nameless). And I all ready have Aniwizard Adventures 3 planned. It's going to take place in England back at Hogwarts. It'll be called "Time Warp". I'll leave you to ponder the meaning of this. If you can't guess, I won't tell you. I have the plot lined up, though. I also have Aniwizard Adventures 4 thought up, but I won't tell you the title. It'll give the semi-existent plot away.

**Thanks to all my reviewers! And, the reason I _might_ not update for a little while is that I'm working on an original fiction story that I hope to get published by the end of summer vacation (and that's being _extremely_ optimistic). It's all ready 69 pages long (be proud of me people!) and I want to finish it. If you think you like my fan fictions, then you'll love my original one (which is _not_ posted on FictionPress.net). If you ever get bored, read one of my other stories (preferably "HARD TO GET". It's _hysterically_ funny!). PLEASE READ "HARD TO GET" FOR ME!!!!!!!**

**Stay tuned for "Chapter 9: Mall Crawl (Marco)"!! Mall funness, straight ahead!**

**Hasta la vista,**

**Padfoot**


	9. Mall Crawl: Marco

Chapter 9 Mall Crawl (Marco) 

            My name is Marco.

            I watched with great amusement as Rachel dragged a bewildered Harry into the Gap. She let go only to look at the price tags on a sweater. "Hmm…" she said thoughtfully, "This is on sale. Harry, how do you like it?" She held it up for his examination.

            Harry looked blankly at the sweater. "Er…"

            "Um, Rachel?" Cassie asked, tugging on Rachel's sleeve. "Aren't we here for his—" she lowered her voice and looked around to make sure no one was watching "—morphing outfit?"

            Rachel's face went slack with remembrance. "Oh… oh, yeah."

            I strolled over to them. "Hey, Rachel! Cassie! Fancy meeting you here!"

            Harry looked relieved. "_Thank you_," he mouthed behind Rachel's back.

            I grinned.

            "Oh, Marco," Cassie said. "Have you met Harry? He's an exchange student from Britain in the school across town."

            "Hi," I said, extending my hand.

            Harry took it. "Nice to meet you."

            "Likewise."

            Rachel pressed the sweater into Harry's arms. "Go try that on. You'll look cute."

            "What are you trying to do? Give us Americans a bad name?" I asked, taking the sweater from him and putting it back on the rack.

            Harry was, I saw, all ready carrying several different bags. "Don't worry, chap," I said in my best British accent. He winced. "It's _Chinese_ shopping torture, not American."

            "That's a condolence," he said dryly.

            I sidled closer to Rachel. "Did you get him a morphing outfit?" I asked under my breath.

            She nodded absently. "Yeah."

            "So then let's hit the food court. Last time I saw, Jake and Tobias were up there."

            "Let's go," Cassie said eagerly.

            I winked. "Can't wait to see Big Jake, huh, Cassie?"

            She blushed, a dead giveaway that I was right.

            Rachel shouldered me when she walked past. "_Ouch_," I said, "Cold shoulder times two."

            She glanced back over her shoulder, hair flouncing. "Are you coming, dweeb?"

            I froze. "_Dweeb_? Who says _dweeb_ anymore? How could you have fallen so low?"

            She said nothing.

            "Yes! I _win_!" I said, pumping my fist into the air. "Me, one! Rachel, _zip_!"

            Together, we moseyed on up to the food court. As I had said, Jake and Tobias were sitting by themselves at a table. Tobias was sitting across from Jake, as stoic as ever. Jake looked incredibly bored. He was building a house out of his fries in his ketchup.

            I was the first to reach the table. "What have you been keeping from us?" I demanded, looking from Tobias to Jake.

            Jake, my best bud since I was in diapers, grinned up me. "Who knows?" he replied loftily.

            Rachel slid into the seat next to Tobias. Cassie immediately plopped down on the seat next to Jake. I took my chair and wedged it between the two couples, where there really was no room. Rachel glared at me disdainfully, but Cassie moved over to allow me room… or maybe just to get closer to Jake.

            Harry threw the bags of clothes on the floor and sat down between Jake and Tobias, looking overwhelmed. He kept craning his neck back to see all there was to see. He didn't seem to be able to take it all in.

            "Whassamatter, Harry?" I teased, "You never been to a mall before?"

            He tipped his chair back to get a better look. "No."

            "Oh." I said, deflated.

            "I'll go get us some burgers," Tobias said, standing up.

            "Make sure mine is made of mouse-meat," I said innocently.

            "I wouldn't have thought differently." He left to go get in line, pulling money out of his jeans pocket.

            Jake leaned forward on the table. "So, Harry, how're you enjoying the States?"

            "It's so much more… _different_ than Surrey," he replied with difficulty.

            "In a good or bad way?" asked Cassie.

            "Good," he replied instantly, "Definitely good."

            Tobias returned with our hamburgers. He tossed us each one and took his seat back. Jake slurped his soda, for he had already had lunch. From what I could see, Tobias was on thirds.

            "You're getting to be like Ax, bird-boy," I said, nudging him with my elbow.

            He rolled his eyes, the only display of emotion on his face. "Well, it's not everyday I get to have a hamburger."

            "Yeah, I can see it now: 'Hello, I would like a mouse meat burger. What? You don't sell mouse meat?'"

            Rachel grit her teeth. "Not funny, Marco."

            "Rachel, Marco," Jake began to stop the fight that was starting, stopping abruptly. I furrowed my brows in surprise. He was staring over my shoulder in half shock and half horror. I glanced over my shoulder too and sank lower into my seat, glancing nervously at Tobias.

            Jake's older brother, Tom, was strolling leisurely towards us. He had a smug look of satisfaction plastered on his face. And not only was he looking smug, but there was a would-be gorgeous girl hanging on his arm, one that we all recognized but wouldn't recognize us…

            Taylor.

            Tobias skittered back wildly. His eyes were huge and terrified. Color was rising in his face and his breath was becoming quicker. He looked as if he were going to have an asthma attack or something.

            Rachel, who was closer to him, grabbed his wrist and kept him from bolting. That wouldn't completely blow our cover, but it would sure give those Controllers some hints as to who we really were.

            "Hey, midget," Tom said, coming up and ruffling Jake's hair. Taylor giggled.

            Tobias was frantically pushing against Rachel, to get as far away from Taylor as possible. Harry looked totally confused. However, he knew something was up, for he assumed an overwhelming interest in his hamburger.

            "Jake, this is my girlfriend, Taylor," Tom said, gesturing towards Taylor as if Jake couldn't guess who she was.

            Looking about ready to lose his recent lunch, Jake clutched Taylor's hand in his sweaty one. "N-nice to meet you," he managed after a long while.

            Tom pulled up two chairs in sat down. Taylor sat beside him, lovingly stroking his arm with her real one.

            "I—I've got to go, guys," Tobias said at last, jumping to his feet with a deer-in-headlights look on his face. He turned on heel, walking quickly until he was at the end of the food court, and then broke into an all-out run.

            Tom and Taylor stared after him. "What's wrong with _him_?" Taylor asked in a falsely sweet voice.

            I choked down a very unwise retort about her face.

            "Chess club," said Cassie finally, "He forgot about chess club."

            "Huh," grunted Tom. "Maybe he should swing by the Sharing with us later. Taylor is getting a promotion there. She's come up with some wonderful new ideas. Wanna join us?"

            "No," said Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and I at the same time, very quickly.

            He stared. Then he noticed Harry.

            "Who's the new kid?" he asked.

            "Uuuh…" Jake said, dumbfounded.

            "Henry Granger," I said quickly, "From the school across town. He's just… he's just…" I faltered.

            "I've just moved here from New York City," Harry said in a flawless American accent that startled us all into staring at him. He flashed us a grin, the first real grin I had seen from him since he lost his magic, and busied himself with his hamburger.

            Tom stuck out his hand. Harry took it, looking at him in the eyes, and shook. "Nice to meet you," he said without looking away.

            Tom looked oddly unnerved. "Same here." He turned back to Jake. "How long have you known him?"

            "About a day," I lied glibly, "We met him here yesterday."

            "Aaah," Tom said knowingly.

            Taylor looked at her watch. "Tom," she said, blue eyes getting round, "It's almost time for the ceremony."

            He stood quickly. "Then we should leave. See you later, bro. Good meeting you, Henry."

            Harry nodded.

            "Yes, I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer. It was nice to meet you!"

            We all murmured our goodbyes as they walked away.

            The moment they were out earshot, Harry leaned over the table. "Who was that? And why did she terrify Tobias?" he demanded, dropping his American accent.

            "That was Taylor," Jake hissed in a low voice, "You see, the Yeerks came up with an Anti-Morphing Ray. Tobias… volunteered himself as bait. We don't know what happened down there, except the fact that she must have tortured him. When we got him back… it was horrible. He didn't talk to anyone for a few days."

            Harry winced in sympathy, but his eyes took on a very hollow look. "Yeah. I know how he feels. Believe me, I know how it feels." He closed his eyes.

            No one said anything for a long while.

            Then, someone asked what was on all our minds.

            "How long have you had that foolproof American accent?"

            And who asked it?

            Why, me, of course.

            Everyone glared at me.

            "What?" I demanded, "You're all thinking it! Don't _look_ at me like that!"

            Harry laughed. "For quite a long time now, actually. When we were battling Voldemort, I figured that I might end up coming over to America if we won. And besides, I was with you so often I couldn't have gone long without picking it up."

            "You surprise us sometimes, Harry," I said, shaking my head, "You really do."

            His grin widened.

            "And it's a hard thing, too, to surprise an Animorph."

            He shook his head. "Then try to be a famous wizard with an insane murderer and his followers after him who plays a maniacal sport on broomsticks that has just discovered that aliens are also trying to take over the planet. It's a little hard to digest, sometimes."

            I threw a fry at him. He ducked it with his Quidditch reflexes, which never failed to amaze me, and threw one right back.

            I don't have amazing Quidditch reflexes.

            It hit me squarely on the forehead. I stuck my lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. "Ow. That hurts me. Right here. In my heart." I clasped my hands over my chest.

            "You mean that place where there's a black hole?" Rachel asked loftily.

            I flinched and clenched my fingers spasmodically. "Aaahh! Heart attack! Too much—dying—had too much—greasy fast foods!"

            This time is was Rachel that threw the fry at me. Along with the ketchup-covered pickle, which stuck to my face and slid down my cheek.

            "Aaah! Now I'm _bleeding_!" I wailed, causing people at nearby tables to stare.

            Harry snorted into his soda. Jake choked on his hamburger. Cassie bit her lip to cover a laugh. Even Rachel couldn't help but giggle.

            I took a napkin from the table and mopped up my face. The ketchup, I realized sadly, had gotten in my hair. I glanced around quickly to see if there were any cute girls in the vicinity. I mean, who could dig a dude with ketchup in his hair?

            I realized then that the others were staring at me, so I thought up something fast.

            I lifted my soda in a toast. "Cheers to American malls and greasy fast foods—the American dream realized!"

            To everyone's surprise, Harry lifted his own soda and hit his with my own.

            "To American malls and greasy fast foods," he said with a nod.

            Laughing, we all raised our flimsy paper cups and toasted the shallow ideals of American life.

            Just another day in the life of an Animorph, I guess.

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuun! The plot thickens! Well, anyway, howdy! Sorry that this chapter was semi-pointless. I wanted to have fun. You see, Marco is one of my all-time favorite characters. How can you hate Marco? And the mini-food fight! I love food fights! Bwah!

**Anywho, sorry this took so long. I was sick for a total of four days. And besides that, I actually got to _meet_ TAMORA PIECE! SQUEE! And not only that, but I got to see this totally awesome display of dagger, sword (including the longsword and sword and buckler), and halberd fighting. Official coolness!**

**And just one more thing: I'm going to start another crossover, this time with X-Men: Evolution. The problem is, I can't choose between two stories to cross it over with: Harry Potter or the Animorphs. I have semi-plots and beginnings for them. So I'm calling for a VOTE!! **

**WHICH CROSSOVER SHOULD I WRITE: ANIMORPHS/X-MEN EVOLUTION or HARRY POTTER/X-MEN: EVOLUTION!**

**Tell me in your reviews!!!**

**Stay tuned for "Chapter 10: If Life Were a Photograph (Hermione)"!!!**


	10. If Life Were a Photograph: Hermione

**Disclaimer: The song at the end of this chapter belongs to Maroon 5 and is called "The Sun". It _is not mine_. I repeat, _not mine_. It's Maroon 5's!! **

**WARNING: This chapter has a PG-13 rating!! I repeat, PG-13 for a short make-out scene between Ron and Hermione. Voldemort is a sick, sick man and that's why this is here.**

**You have been warned.**

Chapter 10 If Life Were a Photograph (Hermione) 

            My name is Hermione Granger.

            I watched with disdain as Harry and Marco got off their bikes, laughing. Marco had lent Harry his old bike, which was still useable but more worn out than the other. Harry was wearing designer jeans and sweater, with brand new Nike sneakers. He looked like he had stepped off the page of a fashion magazine.

            Marco helped Harry with the several bags of clothes that hung from various places on their bikes. Jake and the others had all ready arrived by bird morph. From what they had told me, Harry had needed help carrying his things back to Ax's scoop and Marco had volunteered.

            Only Godric knows why.

            I leaned against the bar door and crossed my arms over my chest. Ron wheeled strenuously around it. "Need some help?" he asked only out of courteousness.

            Harry's face fell when he saw us. He cast his eyes downwards and looked determinedly down at his new sneakers. "No. We can handle it."

            "Maybe _you_ can," huffed Marco, hefting the bags into a better grip.

            I watched Ron wheel forward and take one of the bags from Marco, putting it back in his lap and wheeling it back to the barn. Marco thanked him. Harry followed, giving me a very despondent look as he passed me by. I scowled.

            "Took you long enough," Rachel said when Marco strolled into the barn.

            He wrinkled his nose. With his face turned to me like that, I could see he had ketchup in his hair. I decided I wouldn't ask.

            "_You_ try riding a bike for miles with bags clothes weighing you down," he griped, throwing himself down on a bale of hay. He stuck a piece of hay in his mouth and chewed determinedly.

            "You volunteered," Cassie reminded him gently.

            He took the hay out of his mouth. "I know. I don't know what possessed me."

            I noticed Harry flinch at the word "possess". Why he had this reaction to that word was a mystery to me, but I didn't care. My scowl deepened.

            Jake started to pace. That was a sure sign something was wrong.

            "Is Tobias here?" he asked finally.

            "No," I said. Harry flinched again as if I had slapped him. "We thought he was with you."

            Jake rubbed his face in his hands. "No. I think he just needs some down time to himself."

            Ron and I exchanged looks. There was something they weren't telling us and, undoubtedly, _wouldn't_ be telling us. I could tell that _Harry_ knew, the little git. His lips twitched downward in a frown.

            Why they didn't trust us anymore was a mystery to me. They had trusted Ron and I before, though they had been very suspicious of Harry. I closed my eyes and reminisced:

            _Harry, his face contorted with rage, whirled. His robes flared and the wand he clutched in his bloodless fist spewed red and gold sparks. He stomped toward the door and stopped in the doorway. "You'll regret ever laughing at me," he told the Animorphs, who had hidden smirks when he had lost the Quidditch match to Hufflepuff… again. Ron ran after him._

_            I shook my head apologetically and turned to the Animorphs. "I'm sorry," I said, furrowing my brows, "He does this after _every_ Quidditch match. The only reason they let him on the team is because he's famous. He really can't play, but they've tricked him into thinking he can. I can't see why Ron became his friend. Ron has just always… been sympathetic to him, and Harry's always been a jerk back."_

_            Jake nodded his head. "Don't worry about it. It was just our back luck that we ran into him first. I'm glad you two know him, though, or we'd be a lost cause." He grinned._

_            I waved a hand, my cheeks reddening. "No problem."_

_            Ron then returned. He smiled softly. "Don't worry," he said softly, reserving a special smile for me that made my insides melt, "He won't be telling anyone now that I've calmed him down."_

_            Then, in front of everyone, he gathered me in his arms and lowered his mouth over mine. I kissed his mouth for a moment before giggling, "Not in front of everyone!"_

_            Looking vaguely disappointed, he stepped away from me._

_            Marco rolled his eyes. "Twue wove…is a beautiful ting!"_ _he said._

_            Rachel hit him_.

            I eased out of the memory when Ron called my name. "Yeah?" I asked, blinking.

            "We're going back to the scoop. Are you with us?" he asked, smiling.

            I grinned back. "Of course I'm with _you_." I emphasized "you".

            Harry shuddered.

            I pushed Ron carefully back out to Ax's scoop, glancing up at the moon that hung above the horizon. Tomorrow it would be full, which meant that Ax would be shifting into his werewolf form… again, Harry's fault.

            When we got to the scoop, Harry was all ready there. I don't know how he had slipped by us unnoticed, but he had. He was leaning against a tree with his knees pulled up near his chest, a photo album open on his legs. Slamming it shut, he looked up when we entered.

            I scowled at him. Looking deeply hurt, he shuffled over to his makeshift bed and lay down on it, staring at the sky. He squinted into the sky and finally murmured, "Mars is bright tonight."

            Raising a brow, I asked, "So?"

            He turned his head to me. "Mars is the planet that signifies war. Venus is out, too."

            "I know we're in a war with Voldemort," I said heatedly.

            Looking back at the sky, he said, "Right now I'm involved in more than one war."

            I said nothing.

            Ron tugged at my sleeve and jerked his head over to a copse, grinning suggestively. I looked over at the thicket. It decently hid the trees inside from view. I felt a grin of my own spreading across my face.

            Together, we sidled discreetly over to the thicket. When we were sure that we were completely hidden from sight, he pulled me down onto his lap. I giggled and looked seductively at him through my lashes. He smoothly wrapped his hands around my shoulders and pulled me to him, inquiring lips searching my neck.

            I shivered, a spark of passion growing into a flame in the pit of pit of my stomach. It was a warm night, but the feeling in me right now sent shudders down my spine. I pressed my body against his, melting perfectly into his form. My eyelids fluttered.

            His lips finally found my mouth. I felt his tongue slid between my teeth. My hands lightly pressed his face against mine, making sure he wouldn't stop. I had no thought that he would, but it was always reassuring.

            I could feel his hot and fevered breath on my neck. He ran his hands through my hair. The hair tie popped out and let my hair fall across our faces, filling my nose with the scent of lavender. All too soon, he started to pull away.

            "Don't stop," I whispered, pulling him down on me again. My hands snaked up the back of his shirt to rub his skin. He lifted my shirt to expose my midriff. I moaned softly and shivered out of my sweatshirt, leaving only the tank top I had borrowed from Rachel on. I had also borrowed a mini-skirt from her to impress Ron.

            Sweat beaded on my skin. His skin shone in the moonlight with a veneer of sweat. I ran my lips across his smooth forehead. I felt his hands crawling down my bare waist and across my back. I parted with him momentarily to pull off his T-shirt, feeling the six-pack he had acquired when he had been working with the Yeerks. My skin crawled when it touched his.

            I groaned and tipped my head back as I felt his lips traveling down my neck to my chest. Flipping my hair back into my face, I leaned over him and found his mouth again. I was gasping. His hands were down the back of my skirt. I fumbled with the button on his jeans.

            Suddenly, his hands were up my back again, undoing my bra strap. I pressed harder against him to make it easier; my own hands now down his jeans. He arched his back against the back of his wheelchair. I kissed his neck in the hollow between his neck and shoulder as my bra strap came undone. He worked to get the tank top off.

            "_Whoa_!"

            I jerked. Ron accidentally pushed me off his wheelchair. I hit the ground with a _thump_ and quickly tried to redo my bra strap. Looking up, I saw the person who had seen us.

            It was Harry.

            His face was twisted with torment, shock, and sorrow. He slowly backed away from the grove, tears sliding from his emerald eyes. Turning on heel, he sprinted from the thicket.

            I quickly shrugged into my sweater again and pulled the mini-skirt lower down on my legs. Harry had seen too much of me. I tossed Ron his shirt. He pulled it on and fumbled to re-button his jeans.

            I pushed Ron back to the scoop. Harry was nowhere to be seen. Seeing that he was gone, I quickly ducked behind a tree to change into my nightgown and hot-pink bathrobe. When I emerged, I saw that Ron had changed too.

            I settled down in my sleeping back and pulled my borrowed pillow under my neck. Smiling sleepily, I said, "Goodnight, Ron."

            He beamed down at me from his wheelchair, where he slept (unfortunately). "Night," he said.

            When I looked up again, he was all ready asleep.

            My eyelids were drooping when Harry slid down a nearby tree. I didn't move so that he couldn't tell I was awake. He had the photo album I had seen earlier tucked under his arm. Turning his head, he allowed me to catch a glimpse of the headphones he was wearing.

            Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the tree and slid down to the ground. Tears poured in silent torrents from his eyes. He buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking. The photo album slid from his lap and fell open when it hit the ground.

            I felt a stab of annoyance. What was he crying about? He had no right to be weeping. Just because Ron had a girlfriend and he didn't was no reason to sob like that.

            Silently, I got to my feet and stalked over to him. I stepped on a twig, which snapped loudly. He jerked and looked up at my livid face. Quickly, he slammed the photo album shut and struggled to stand.

            "You're such a wimp," I hissed, so as not to wake Ron up, "Crying because you don't have a girlfriend. If that's even _what_ you're crying about."

            He averted his eyes. "It's nothing," he said, sniffing and wiping at a tear.

            "It's _not_ nothing," I said irritably, "And why do you keep hiding your photo album from me?"

            "Because you wouldn't believe the things you saw," he said softly, "And that it might corrupt your mind if I let you."

            I snorted. "'Corrupt your mind'? What would 'corrupt my mind'?"

            "Anything that reminds you of the past you don't remember," he snapped, trying to walk past me.

            I put a hand on his shoulder. All his strength fled when I touched him. I saw his knees buckle and tears welled in his eyes again.

            "What are you talking about?" I demanded gruffly.

            "Do you really want to know?"

            "Tell me."

            "You were never in love with Ron. In fact, you were in love with me. When I almost died, you went ballistic. Ron nearly killed himself because he thought I died. You two were my closest friends. We went to get the Sorcerer's Stone with me and you told me I was the best wizard you knew. When you were petrified, I did all I could to kill the Basilisk. We met my godfather, Sirius Black, together and learned the truth. You and Ron helped me through the Triwizard Tournament I never entered and you stuck by me even when Ron was mad at me. We defeated the Yeerks together, where we shared our first kiss. When Voldemort tried to possess me, the thought of you and Sirius brought me back. We came here together to defeat the new Yeerk threat and then Voldemort corrupted you and Ron's memories. _That_'s what I'm talking about."

            My face contorted. "That's a nice history you've made up for yourself," I said snippily, "But I believe it no more than any other word that you utter."

            He closed his eyes and brought a hand to his scar, rubbing it. This annoyed me even further.

            "Don't _do_ that!" I nearly howled.

            "If you don't believe me," he managed finally, shoving the photo album at my face, "Then look."

            With a disbelieving snort, I flipped it open. He pumped up the radio he was listening to and unfocused his eyes, looking away into thin air.

            The first few pictures were of his parents. I turned pages until I found more recent ones.

            My eyes widened in surprise.

            There was a picture of us at age eleven, gathered around a hospital bed with Harry in it. He was bandaged in various places, as was Ron. We were all grinning and waving at the camera. I had an arm slung about Harry's shoulders and Ron was bending his knees to be able to get into the picture.

            Shaking, I looked to the next page. I found another picture of the three of us together, in Second Year. As I could tell from the decorations in the picture, it was Christmas. Harry had a green shirt with an "H" on it, matching Ron's mauve one with a gold "R". They had arms around each other's shoulders and they kept grinning mischievously at each other. I stood near Harry with a book tucked under my arm. I was constantly rolling my eyes at them, but grinning all the same.

            I flipped a few more pages, where I found a picture of us in Third Year. It had been taken on the Quidditch Pitch, from the look of things. Red and gold streamers were falling from the sky. Harry was hefted high on Ron, Fred, and George's shoulders. Harry, Fred, and George all wore their red Quidditch robes. Harry was waving his hand above his head with the snitch clasped firmly in his grip, grinning hugely. Oliver Wood stood in the background, clutching the Quidditch Cup and sobbing. A large sign hung from Ron's neck that said, "Lions for the cup!" and flashed brilliant colors. I had a fistful of Harry's robes and was pulling on them, beaming up at him. Every now and then, he looked down at me and grinned at me with a smile wider than my own.

            The next I saw was a picture from Fourth Year. The three of us were together again and in a tent. Harry's robes were torn at the shoulder. He and Ron were shaking hands, grinning stupidly at each other. Every now and then, Ron would reach over and pat him on the back, which made Harry's picture-self laugh. I could clearly be seen behind them, just between their heads, sobbing. I was mouthing something that looked suspiciously like, "You two are so_ stupid_!"

            I went to the back of the book, where I found the last picture. This one included the Animorphs as well as us. Harry and I were leaning together, holding hands and giving each other loving looks. Ron sat in his wheelchair, laughing. Marco kept reaching over to tousle Harry's head. Rachel continually rolled her eyes and grinned, arms folded over his chest. The other Animorphs were gathered beside us, grinning and laughing.

            I was speechless. Well, almost. "H-how… can this be?" I asked in a strangled voice. Then, "You've set this up!"

            "No!" he cried, "I didn't! I can prove it to you!"

            "How?"

            He pointed at the back cover of the book, where there was a silver latch in the shape of a heart. "Touch that and it will open for you. It only reacts to our magic signature, but since I've lost my magic I've been unable to get into it."

            I offered it to him. "I want to see you try."

            Which he did. In fact, he tried so hard his fingers started to bleed.

            He handed it back to me. "See?" he asked, inspecting the gashes on his fingers.

            I nodded, looking sick. Nevertheless, I touched the small heart with my finger. I started in surprise when the heart broke cleanly through the mirror and revealed a compartment full of pictures, which I immediately pulled out.

            I gasped at what I saw. In almost all of them, Harry and I were kissing. The first one was incredibly romantic. With only fairies for light, we stood on the Hogwarts grounds next to a bench. Some fairies danced about our heads. We were so completely involved with each other that we never seemed to notice the camera.

            "No," I said, dropping the pictures and the photo album and backing away. "No. It's not true. You're lying!"

            "No!" he said, reaching for my hand.

            I turned and ran for my sleeping bag, where I burrowed myself in and hid my head. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

            The thoughts whirled through my head as I began to slide into the dark abyss one calls sleep.

            Yet, as I fell asleep, I heard a soft voice singing lightly. I could tell it was Harry from the sorrow in his voice. The words spun rapidly through my head as I slipped into dreams…

_"After school, walking home…_

_Fresh dirt under my fingernails and_

_I can smell hot asphalt._

_Cars screech to a halt to let me pass._

_And I cannot remember what life was like through photographs._

_And trying to recreate images life gives us from our past._

_And sometimes it's a sad song…_

_I cannot forget,_

_Refuse to regret,_

_So glad I met you and…_

_Take my breath away,_

_Make everyday_

_Worth all of the pain I have gone through._

_And Mama, I've been crying 'cause things aren't how they used to be._

_She said, "The battle's almost won…_

_And we're only several miles from the sun."_

_Moving on down the street…_

_See people I won't ever meet._

_Think of her, take a breath,_

_Feel the beat and rhythm of my steps._

_And sometimes it's a sad song._

_I cannot forget,_

_Refuse to regret,_

_So glad I met you and…_

_Take my breath away,_

_Make everyday_

_Worth all of the pain that I've gone through._

_And Mama, I keep crying 'cause things aren't how they used to be._

_She said, "The battle's almost won…_

_And we're only several miles…"_

_She said, "The battle's almost won…_

_And we're only several miles from the sun."_

**A/N: Bwah! Sadness! Sorry it took so long. I've been working on my original fiction story (not to be found at FictionPress.com). I happen to be very pleased with myself, as it's 88 PAGES LONG! SQUEE! ::sigh:: I'm almost halfway done after three long years…**

**::cough cough:: Anyway, I hope you liked it. The make out scene, by the way, was just to show how serious Voldemort made the relationship between Ron and Hermione be. Thanks for the reviews and, more importantly, the votes! The votes have been cast! No names shall be mentioned, but the final outcome is… DRUM ROLL PLEASE!**

**::drum roll::**

**HARRY POTTER: 5**

**ANIMORPHS: 8**

**I will be starting an Animorphs/X-Men: Evolution crossover very soon. Check my updates for it. I haven't a clue what I'm calling it yet, so please bear with me. Wah hoo!**

**Stay tuned for "Chapter 11: Moon Shadow (Ax)"!**


	11. Moon Shadow: Ax

Chapter 11 Moon Shadow (Ax) 

            My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.

            My paws hit the dirt and dying grass with a small whuff of air. The air rippled through my gray-white fur. Above me, the moon hung as a foreboding orb. I threw my head back and howled, a chilling and lonely sound.

            I have not been a werewolf for long, but I have been one for long enough that I know that it is a horrible way to live. The only other werewolf I have met had been at the battle in Hogwarts, and those moments had been precious few. I howled again.

            Hey, Ax-man, said Tobias, fluttering down on a tree branch near me.

            I could not answer him. However much I wanted to, I could not.

            Rough night, huh?

            I nodded my head and glanced up at the moon. Dawn was still a long way off. Growling softly to myself, I lie down on my belly and put my head on my paws.

            I just checked up on Harry and the others, he said, They haven't killed each other yet. Thankfully, they're all sleeping. Harry looks exhausted, poor kid. Its tearing him apart.

            I raised my head in alarm and cocked my head, one ear quirked.

            No, he's fine, Tobias replied quickly, answering my unvoiced question. This was one of the reasons he is my _shorm_.  I didn't mean it literally. I'm just saying that he's been very depressed a lot lately. I hope this thing is over soon. He's so far from home and basically alone. The day at the mall was good for him. We should do it again soon.

            I nodded my agreement. He had looked much better when he had gotten home. It had disappeared the moment he had caught sight of Hermione and Ron. I do not understand what had happened in the new Yeerk facility, but I know that it was horrible.

            With a sigh, I got to my feet and padded over to the Aniwizards' encampment. They were sound asleep when I got there. Hermione's face was twisted more than usual; Harry's, more sorrowful. They didn't so much as twitch in their sleep.

            "Go jump off a cliff, Percy," Ron muttered, head rolling to the other side. "It's not Harry's fault that Sirius—"

            He broke off with a sad sigh.

            Hmmm… it's not Harry's fault that Sirius what? Tobias asked, unfurling his wings a little.

            I did my best to shrug my canine shoulders. I had no idea what Ron was speaking of.

            That was when Harry stirred. He thrashed wildly at his blankets, moaning softly. Sweat suddenly stood out on his brow. His fingers twitched spasmodically. "Sirius," he groaned, "Sirius… no… come out! You can't—you can't—_NO_!"

            I shrunk back into the shadows when he sat up and looked around him, panting. He buried his face in his hands and rubbed his face. His whole body trembled, which I knew as I sign of cold or fear. Why he would feel either was a mystery to me.

            Bad dream, Harry? asked Tobias softly.

            Harry jerked and looked up. He sighed when he saw it was only Tobias. "No," he said, "More like a bad memory."

            Care to talk about it? Tobias wheedled.

            "No," Harry replied, looking away.

            Softly, I trotted forward. The moonlight revealed a tear rolling down his cheek. He wiped it off on his shoulder.

            "Hey, Ax," he said.

            I bowed my head to acknowledge him.

            Abruptly, his whole body went erect. He gave an odd croaking sound and grabbed his scar. His face drained of color. Falling back on his sleeping bag, he pressed his head against the ground and made his back arch. A high-pitched sound escaped his lips.

            My hackles rose. With a growl, I backed away. I could feel an aura forming around him, an aura of magic—dark magic. There was only one person who could cause Harry so much pain: Voldemort.

            As suddenly as it had happened, it stopped. Harry gasped and all his limbs went limp. His eyelids fluttered. "He's very pleased," he rasped, "and very confident. Something has happened. I don't know what—it wasn't clear enough to tell. But the emotions he's been sending off… they're stronger now. My scar has never hurt that badly before."

            Could it be because your magic is gone? asked Tobias nervously.

            Harry shook his head and rolled to his feet. "I don't know," he said, eyes darting around the clearing, "It could be. I was probably a little more protected when I had my magic. It's either that or he's just _very_ happy."

            A strange scent filled my nostrils. My hackles rose again. A wine rose in my throat. I did not recognize the scent, but I knew that it was a magic creature like myself. The scent it let off radiated hunger and danger. Though I did not _know_ what it was, I knew that I did not want to meet it.

            Harry could take a hint. Quickly, silently, he stripped of his baggy clothing to reveal the morphing suit beneath. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he focused on the DNA inside him.

            His teeth grew and extended past his lower lip, at exactly the same moment his nose flattened and his nostrils widened. Golden fur rippled down his skin and morphing outfit. Thicker, more coarse fur grew about his neck. His bones snapped and reformed so that he was on all fours.

            At this moment, the underbrush rustled. Startled, his almond eyes snapped open and he looked over at the bushes as he continued to morph.

            I let loose a yelp when a human head extended out of the bushes. It was a head unlike any other I had seen before. The eyes were completely red and had slits for pupils, like that of an Earth snake. Razor-sharp teeth were bared in a hostile grin. Facial fur grew all over its face, wild and untamed.

            There was no doubt that this was what I had smelled.

            "_Manticore_," Harry breathed through his reforming lips.

            The manticore slid out of the bush, revealing its lion-like midsection. A deadly sting hovered over its back on a scorpion-like tail. Its quivering eyes landed on Harry and it began to croon.

            Uh-oh, Harry said, growling and backing up.

            The manticore lunged. Harry dodged and slid across the ground on half-formed paws. Its sting hit the ground where Harry had been standing only moments before. The grass in that area turned brown and shriveled on the spot.

            Don't let the sting get you, he said, It will kill you _instantly_.

            He was completely finished morphing now. With an ear-shattering roar, he leapt at the manticore.

            Hermione sat up quickly at the same moment Ron sat erect in his wheelchair. She blinked her eyes and glanced over at Harry and the manticore. She screamed and scrambled to her feet.

            "Godric," uttered Ron, quickly fumbling for his wand.

            Though every instinct in my werewolf body rebelled, I bared my teeth and lunged. My teeth clamped down on one of its legs. It shook its leg, bellowing in agony. I was thrown to the side like a rag doll, for the manticore was three times my size.

            Black blood slowly oozed out of the wound. It bent its eerily human head and licked the bite, whimpering.

            "TSEER!"

            Tobias, at a very high altitude, banked and dove at its eyes. It lashed out at him with his tail. Harry jumped with his powerful leg muscles and grabbed hold of its tail in his teeth, bringing the tail down and giving Tobias clearance.

            A curse shot at the manticore and harmlessly bounced off its skin, instead coming at me. I howled and bounded away. The curse hit the tree and it exploded into flames. Hermione hurriedly doused it with a spell of her own, sternly telling Ron, "Manticore hide repels spells!"

            The manticore shrieked when Tobias got one of its eyes. It tossed its head and flailed its sting.

            Ginny came running into the clearing, pulling on her robes. She slept away from the others, more near the barn in case something happened. From there, she could more easily get to the barn and warn Cassie if something was happening.

            She skidded to a halt when she saw the manticore, her face going pale behind her freckles. Shaking, she drew her wand from her pocket.

            "Ginny, you can't curse it!" Hermione yelled.

            She didn't notice the sting coming down at her.

            "HERMIONE!" screeched Ron, helpless to do anything.

            NOOOOOOOO!

            Faster than my eye could follow, Harry was suddenly across the clearing. He knocked Hermione out of the way and slid across the grass on his back, exposing the soft skin of his belly.

            "_HARRY_!" screamed Ginny.

            Harry, through some miracle, was able to catch the sting in his paws. It was only inches away from piercing his midriff. He was unable to push it away. I knew that, if I tried to knock it away, I would only result in loosening Harry's grip and being at fault for his death. I hesitated.

            Ginny was faster to react. She waved her wand and shouted, "_Reducto_!"

            The ground beneath the manticore's feet exploded. With a shriek, it flew up through the air and landed on its side about ten feet away.

            All ready, Harry was on his feet and closing the distance between him and it. I joined him, eyes fixated on the dangerous sting. If the sting got any of us…

            "Tobias," I heard Ron say hoarsely to my _shorm_, "Go get Jake and the others. _Quickly_."

            The sting snapped at Harry. I was one step ahead, for the tail had no sooner left the ground than my teeth were around it. Blood that burned like fire splashed down my throat. I gave a half-squeal, half-howl and released. My throat… It _burned_…

            I looked up to see Harry's extended claws tear through the soft skin of the manticore's underbelly. It shrilled loudly and wildly kicked its legs. The tail, I noticed proudly, was hanging on by a thread. I had nearly bitten clear through it.

            Harry stood over it and watched it die, amber eyes hard. His tail twitched and he narrowed his eyes. Slowly, the creature's struggles became weak and it finally fell limp.

            I watched as he demorphed. The process was slow and erratic now that his magic was gone. When he had finished, his fists were clenched and his whole body trembled.

            "How—?" managed Hermione after a long while.

            "How… what?" Harry asked without turning around.

She swallowed. "You never… the Animorphs never gave you the power to morph!"

            He closed his eyes. "Goes to show how much Voldemort knew when he…" he trailed off, unable to say what Voldemort had done to his friends.

            An owl swooped down and landed on the ground, sprouting up into Cassie. She stared from the manticore, to me, to Harry, and back again. Finally, she gulped and asked, "W-what happened?"

            "I heard a roar," Ginny choked out, "And when I came, I found Harry and the others fighting a manticore. Harry managed to kill it while in lion morph. It nearly killed him and Hermione."

            "Hermione," asked Harry suddenly, startling all of us, "Hermione, will a manticore's skin still be spell resistant when its dead?"

            Hermione looked surprised. "I—I don't know," she said slowly, "Probably."

            He bent down and ran his hand along its side. By this time, I was back on my feet and could see it properly. The manticore's hide was not very damaged. Only the belly and leg were scratched, and the tail was hanging on by a thread. I cocked my head. Was Harry thinking what I _thought_ he was thinking…?

            Just then, Prince Jake and the others arrived.

            "Whoa," said Rachel, immediately walking over to the dead manticore, "That's one lean, mean, killing machine."

            Prince Jake then demanded an explanation. Ginny retold her tale and was backed up by Harry. He nodded his appreciation and circled the manticore. "Harry, did anything happen _prior_ this?"

            Harry chewed thoughtfully on his lip. "My scar hurt. Voldemort was extremely pleased. It must have been because—AAARGH!"

            His knees suddenly buckled and he collapsed. I nervously shifted my weight from one paw to the other. His eyes rolled up into his head as he screamed his agony to the sky. When Cassie approached to soothe him, he thrashed at her so violently she had to reel backwards to avoid a serious injury.

            Moaning softly, he suddenly fell limp. "He's angry," he croaked without getting up. No one asked who _he_ was. "_Very_ angry. He knows the manticore failed. He doesn't know where we are; he just set the manticore out with our scent and it found us. He was expecting it to kill me because I don't have my magic."

            Ron looked decidedly unnerved. "How do you know all that?"

            "Don't you remember last year?" Harry asked, eyes now open. He looked as if he regretted this statement and said, "My scar hurt and I told you what Voldemort" —Ron and Hermione flinched— "was feeling. Now that my magic's gone… some of my protection is gone, I suppose. The pain is stronger than before."

            "This is great," Marco said, "Now Voldemort is sending dangerous, magical creatures after you. Maybe you should sleep _in_ the barn or something."

            "And let my dad find him in the morning?" interjected Cassie, "That won't work."

            "Yeah, but he _is_ too valuable to expose him to such danger," Prince Jake said, "We can't just let him stay out here."

            "Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" demanded Harry heatedly.

            Prince Jake looked, if anything, guilty. "Sorry."

            "I have an idea," Harry continued. He gestured to the dead manticore. "Manticore hide is spell repellant, right? Well, if you made some sort of smock or something out of it, wouldn't it make the _wearer_ spell repellant too?"

            Hermione stared at him. "That's just so crazy it might work!"

            "And that besides, it's hide from a _magical_ creature. You may be able to morph it. Not only us Aniwizards, but you Animorphs too. It could possibly make the morph spell repellant, too."

            Prince Jake clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "That's _perfect_! Now, does anyone here know how to skin an animal?"

            There was complete and utter silence.

            Timidly, I padded forward and butted his leg with my head. He blinked and looked down at me. "Can you Ax? Into parts that would fit Harry?"

            I nodded.

            "Good. That makes our lives much easier. We'll discuss this more in the morning. Get a good night's sleep."

            He and the others left.

            I tipped my head back to the moon. It was low on the horizon now. This meant that dawn was approaching. Harry and others fell back to sleep and I stood over them, a silent guardian.

            There was no telling what other things would go bump in the night.

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuun! How'd you like it? Ax isn't my favorite character to write as, but I think I did a pretty good job. Well, as I should say, the votes are closed. I am writing an Animorphs/X-Men: Evolution crossover. It'll be called, "The Xception". Now, I don't have it up yet. Bear with me.

**And I thought I'd treat you to a preview of my original fiction, because this chapter was a little short. You can't find it anywhere else but here. And when I'm a famous author ::wink wink:: you'll be able to say you read it here first. Here it is:**

            As if in slow motion, Alexander stretched his hand toward me. I sat transfixed. In what seemed to be hours, his three middle fingers brushed my forehead. His skin was cool and dry.

            I watched his face intently. His eyes slid out of focus and his eyelids fluttered. The tense muscles in his face relaxed.

            Quite suddenly, the three fingers on my forehead burned like fire.

            Alexander and the classroom dissolved, melting into one of the many streets of Utopia. Which street, I couldn't tell. All streets in Utopia were identical. Judging from the lack of light, it was night. The occurrences on this street were the only things that seemed out of place.

            People were running for their lives, shrieking their terror though none could come and help them. The squealing of shadow-creatures filled my ears. I watched in horror as shadow-creatures leapt at unsuspecting, panicked victims. Some people were killed and then sucked into the shapeless black masses, while others were picked up and carried away. Still others were just slain and left dead on the street. These people were generally elderly or extremely young.

            Blood was strewn everywhere. It filled my nostrils. I wanted to gag, but I couldn't. I was forced to watch as those captured had collars put around their necks and were brutally dragged away at a running pace. They often fell and injured themselves, adding to the blood all ready spilt on the pavement.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to close my eyes and block it all out. I wanted to jam my fingers in my ears to stop the sounds of the dying and the strange shadow-creatures. I wanted to stop the reek of blood from entering my nostrils. I wanted to—

            It stopped abruptly. I nearly fell out of my seat. Suddenly, I could see Alexander and the classroom again. I was drenched in cold sweat. Tears trickled silently down my face. I gave a muffled sob.

            "They're coming," said Alexander in a low voice, "And they're coming for _us_."

**Ta da! Not a great selection, as it doesn't flow all that well, but I hope you enjoyed it. (It's 98 pages long! Squee!) **

**Now, stay tuned for "Chapter 12: Spell Repellant (Ginny)"!!**


	12. Spell Repellant: Ginny

Chapter 12 Spell Repellant (Ginny) 

            My name is Ginny Weasley.

            "That's… the robe?" I asked, staring.

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione were staring, too. We had seen a lot of different robes, but nothing quite like this. It looked like a patchy fur coat. I didn't dare touch it in fear it would fall apart.

            I made it correctly, did I not? asked Ax anxiously.

            "I—I don't know…" I said slowly. "I didn't make my own robes."

            Jake cleared his throat and rocked back and forth on his heels. "So… um… who'd you make it to fit?"

            Ax looked a little surprised. Why, for Harry, of course. He is the one who needs the most protection.

            "I'm supposed to wear it?" Harry asked, gingerly taking it off the bale of hay it was on.

            That is the purpose I intended it for, Ax replied.

            Glancing around, Harry carefully shrugged it on over his new clothes. He tugged on the sleeves and looked surprised when the sleeve didn't come off. "What'd you use to hold this together?"

            Wire.

            I squinted at the seem and was extremely surprise to, in fact, see a thin wire holding the two pieces of cloth together. Harry ran his fingers over it, eyes wide in surprise. Then he turned to me and said, "Hex me."

            My eyes went wide in surprise. "_Hex you_?" I asked.

            He nodded. "I want to see if this works. I'm not going to go into battle with this being ineffective. It's very heavy."

            "Why doesn't Hermione? Or Ron?" I choked out, going white. What if it didn't work and I jinxed him so badly he couldn't reverse it because he had no magic left?

            Both dark eyebrows went up.

            "Okay, okay," I muttered, drawing my wand. I looked down fondly at it, running its make up through my mind: Rowan. Dragon heartstring. Nine and a half inches.

            Rachel cleared her throat.

            "Oh. Erm, what curse should I use?" I asked nervously.

            Harry shrugged. "The tickling one?"

            "Sure," I said, relaxing. Good, old Harry. He always knew what to do. I lifted my wand and lowered it quickly, flicking at the end and saying, "_Rictusempra_!"

            Silver light shot out of the tip and struck Harry full in the chest. He staggered back as the spell rebounded. It rocketed off to the left and hit the unfortunate person standing there: Marco.

            Marco yelped when it hit him and doubled over, shrieking with laughter. His face turned bright red and he collapsed onto a bale of hay. "Make it stop!" he howled, sobbing tears of mirth, "_Make it stop_!"

            "Well, this is a first," Rachel quipped, "Marco actually _wanting_ to stop laughing."

            This was no help; it only made him laugh louder.

            I clapped my hands over my mouth. "Holy hippogriffs! I didn't mean to—I didn't aim—it wasn't—" I spluttered.

            "It's alright," Harry said, looking uncomfortable, "A little laughing never hurt anyone."

            "_A little_?" shrilled Marco, "This—isn't—a little—laughing!"

            "What's the counter curse?" I demanded of Harry.

            Harry grinned a little guiltily. "That's a good question."

            I sighed dramatically and threw my hands up. "_This_ is good!"

            "Oh, _move over_," Hermione said, striding forward and shoving Harry aside. He tripped and fell into the wall. She ignored him and waved her wand at Marco, loudly saying the counter curse.

            Marco, relieved of the spell, laughed weakly and sank to the ground. Groaning, he clutched his stomach and said, "I'm never going to laugh again."

            "Marco," I said, running over to help him to his feet, "I'm _so_ sorry."

            He grinned suddenly. "I always knew you cared," he said suavely, winking.

            I let go of his hand with a disgusted snort. He fell to the ground with a grunt. Sighing, he said, "They were wrong when they said, 'it doesn't hurt to try'."

            "Keep trying, spandex-boy," I said snidely.

            Rachel grinned and winked at me. "You're my new best friend."

            "Hey!" interjected Cassie.

            "Oh, sorry," Rachel replied, nudging Cassie. "You're my better best friend. There's a difference. I've promoted both you _and_ Ginny."

            "Well, I think we've established that it works," Harry said, swinging his arms. "Should I try it in morph?"

            "That's a good idea," Jake said with a nod.

            Harry closed his eyes and began to morph lion. I couldn't help the way I stared. I had never seen a person morph before, though I had seen him demorph (at the time, however, I wasn't quite paying attention). I then decided that morphing was disgusting and erratic process.

            The morph didn't take long. I watched with amazement when he grew into the robes and it clung to him like a second skin, expanding and melting perfectly into the morph. He gave me a big, lion grin when he saw my stare.

            Try jinxing me again, he said, narrowing his amber eyes and twitching his tail.

            I touched to my head, momentarily befuddled. I shook myself. I was just being stupid. It was only thought-speak!

            "Same one?" I asked.

            He nodded.

            "Hermione, be on stand-by," Jake said, preparing himself to dodge. 

            "Ready?" I asked, preparing myself.

            Nods from all the assembled.

            I raised my wand. Down! Swish! Flick! "_Rictusempra_!"

            A silver jet of light shot out my wand again. Harry took the blow and rocked back when it hit him. There was blinding flash as the morph reflected the spell and it came bounding back…

            At me.

            I threw myself onto the ground and rolled. The jinx hit the wall and burned completely through, disappearing into the distance. Face ashen, I stared through the plate-sized hole.

            Cassie groaned. "How am I going to explain _that_?"

            "Just say we were playing with fire," Marco replied with a grin.

            Everyone—Ron excluded—glared at him.

            I shuddered when I looked at Ron. He had a blank look on his face, a look that matched the emptiness in his eyes. A fake smile was drawn across his lips, a mere façade of the grin I had always known. He wasn't… _Ron_ anymore. The change that had taken place in my older brother scared me… if it had happened to him, couldn't it happen to me?

            Casting my eyes down, I studied the dirt. Cassie sidled forward and squeezed my shoulder, as if feeling my depression. I was a tad bit unnerved. Harry had been right when he had confided that she seemed to have a six sense about emotions.

            Harry demorphed and examined the robes. "At least _these_ robes won't get torn in the next duel I fight in. And there's no telling when _that_'ll be."

            Cassie, Tobias said suddenly, extending his folded wings, Your dad is almost here. He'll get here in… oh, say, five minutes. We'd better go. He looked pointedly at the Aniwizards and me.

            "We're off," Ron said, turning his wheelchair and strenuously pushing himself out the door. Hermione instantly caught the back of his chair and helped him. Harry shrugged at me and followed, robes snapping at the movement. I waved sheepishly at the human Animorphs, trotting out the door after my friends.

            Harry was striding in front of me. I jogged up to his side. "Hey," I said, keeping pace with him.

            "Hey," he replied quietly, not looking at me.

            We were silent for a moment.

            "How's life?" I asked, wishing I could take the words back after they had left my mouth.

            He smiled dryly. "As miserable as I've ever been."

            "Yeah, I bet," I said in just as dry a tone. "Look on the bright side. You've still got me."

            "Yeah, I've still got you…" he said, staring almost hungrily at Hermione's retreating back.

            I hugged him about the shoulders. "Don't worry about her. We'll fix her memories soon. She'll be back to normal before no time. You forget that _I_'m on the case."

            A real smiled tugged at the corners of his lips. It disappeared when Hermione and Ron laughed, Hermione swooping down to plant a kiss on my brother's cheek. I felt Harry shudder against my arm.

            The clearing was just a few feet ahead by now. I stopped him before we were within ten feet of it. "Don't. Stop. Let's talk."

            "About what?" he asked. He didn't take his eyes from his two best friends.

            I took his face in my hands and turned his face so that he'd look at me. I felt a familiar giddiness come over me when his emerald eyes met mine. His strong, firm hand clutched my arm. Memories rushed back. Now was one of those times when I remembered why I had had such a crush on him for such a long time…

            "What's the matter?" he asked in his rich voice, sending shivers down my spine.

            I shook the feeling off. "Harry, you've not been yourself lately. I _know_ that there's a lot of pressure on you. I _know_ that the Hermione and Ron's change has been difficult. I _know_ it must have been hard to lose your magic like that. But there are people counting on you, Harry. You can't give up."

            He opened his mouth to protest, but I put a finger on his lips, silencing him.

            "No. I know what you're like when you're about to give up. I was there with you last year. I remember what _really _happened. You can't give up on this. You _have_ to get your magic back. You _have_ to save Ron and Hermione. You _have_ to help the Animorphs."

            He closed his eyes, a shuddering sigh leaving his lips. "Why _me_, though? Why can't someone else do it? It's not my bloody fault that all this is happening. Someone else can do it. I'm nothing now that I don't have my magic. That's the only thing that made me who I am. Now that it's gone… I can't do it anymore. I should just go and hand myself over to the Yeerks." He grimaced and kneaded his scar.

            Horror gripped my heart. "No! _No_! That's what they want! Don't you see? They're _trying_ to get you to give up. Now, I don't know why all this is happening to you. I know that I'd break under all this. But there is a reason you were born as Harry Potter, that you survived that Death Curse… can't you see? If you give up, then for what am _I_ fighting?"

            I was ranting now, but I wasn't going to stop. Tears slid crazily down my cheeks. "You're the only person who can do this! You're brave and smart and funny… you're the one holding us wizards together! You're our leader and, though Ron and Hermione don't know it right now, you're our _best friend_. We aren't your friends because of your magic! It's who you are that attracted us. Do you think Hermione loves you for your fame? Do you think I befriended you for your power? Do you think Ron befriended you for your money?

            "Harry, I can't do this without you… please. You're the only person who can do this. You're one of my best friends and I hate to see you hurt like this, but I'm not the one who decided that this was going to happen. Please, Harry! Do it for Hermione! Do it for Ron! Do it for the Animorphs…" I trailed off and said in a very quiet voice, "Do it for _me_."

            I turned away and wrapped my arms around myself, sobbing and trying desperately to stop. My fiery red locks fell like a curtain around my face, hiding me from view. I hunched myself over and closed my eyes. Tears flowed down my cheeks.

            "Ginny." I felt a light touch on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Harry's face inches from my own. His face was pale and his eyes were huge. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean… thank you. Thank you for waking me up like that. I really would have give up if you hadn't said anything. Ron, Hermione, and the Animorphs wouldn't have said anything… thank you."

            I hiccoughed. "What else am I here for?" I asked in a very shaky voice.

            "Lots of things," he said, hugging me. "You helped me at the Ministry. You're helping me right now. Where would I be without you, right now? Nowhere."

            "Thank you," I said breathlessly, feeling the closeness of our bodies.

            "You're very welcome," he replied.

            I half-closed my eyes and leaned forward. The hands that gripped my back convulsed. He wasn't much taller than I was, so our faces weren't very far apart. My lips met his with an explosion of fireworks behind my eyes. How long had I dreamed of kissing him!

            Suddenly, he pulled me close. His lips covered mine and searched my face. My hands pressed him down on me. I felt him run his hands up and down my back. Passion made me gasp and kiss every inch of bare skin that I could find. He kissed me thoroughly, almost hungrily.

            Thoughts whirled, half-formed, through my mind. I had been awaiting my first kiss for a very long time. I had had two boyfriends, but neither had felt comfortable enough to actually kiss me. Suddenly, I found myself wondering whether this is what Hermione felt like when Harry kissed her…

            I pushed the thought away and instead pressed myself closer against Harry. Our forms melted into each other. He was nearly being violent as he kissed my face. I moaned and kissed the hollow between his neck and shoulder, resting my head on his shoulder. I took a deep breath of his unique smell… the smell of Quidditch equipment, sweat, butterbeer, and lilac.

            He abruptly went erect. I continued to kiss his face. "What's wrong?" I asked between gasps.

            "No," he said gruffly, pushing me away. Now I noticed that he was visibly shaking. "I can't do this. Hermione… what will Hermione think of this? I love her!"

            "She doesn't right now," I said, "She doesn't know she does, at least."

            "Yes, but _I_ know better!" he said, almost hysterically. He backed into a tree, shaking his head violently. "We promised to be there for each other. I can't do this. _I can't do this_!"

            I approached him. He twitched and pressed himself up against the tree. "Why?"

            "Because of Hermione! And I'm _using_ you! I'm using you in her stead!"

            I leaned myself against him again. "I don't mind being used."

            He backed away from me. "But I _do_. I _do_ mind using you. I _do_ mind kissing you behind Hermione's back. What would she think? She's my girlfriend, no matter what she thinks right now. I love her. I've loved her for a very long time. I'm sorry, Ginny, but I don't love you like _that_. You're like… my little sister. I can't… I can't…"

            His complexion was slowly becoming whiter. Finally, he turned and ran without looking back . I stared at his retreating back.

            At that moment, something occurred to me that I hadn't thought of before. It made my heart thud painfully in my throat. Fresh tears stung at my eyes. He wasn't using me. He never had…

            I was taking advantage of him.

            I leaned against the tree and slid down it, so that I ended up sitting. Drawing my knees to my chest, I put buried my face in my arms. My shoulders convulsed with sobs.

            He was weak, right now. He wasn't the old Harry I knew. His magic was gone, his girlfriend hated him, and his best friend was someone completely different. How different was I from Voldemort if I used him like this?

            The thought chilled me. Voldemort was using Harry as a toy. So was I, if I really considered it. I had wanted to be his girlfriend for the better part of my life, and now that she had left him for a little while I was moving in. This is what Voldemort had probably had in mind.

            I was doing Voldemort's bidding. I was mentally tearing him down. I was playing with his mind.

            Weeping, I lost track of all time and place. All I knew was the terrible loneliness and fear that I was becoming another one of Voldemort's pawns. I hadn't wanted to hurt Harry. I never had.

            But I had hurt him anyway.

A/N: Awww, sadness! Sorry this was a little depressing. I'm in a depressed mood. Now, don't come after me with pitchforks and torches. It'll be alright in the end… or not. Do you honestly think I'm going to tell you?

**Anywho, I have a little note. Don't expect Chapter 13 for a little while. I've got a research paper due. And that besides, I've got about three other stories that I'm working on. I've got a few tests and another book I have to read for school. Oh, and I've got archery and Literary Society and all that stuff.**

**I hope to get it up in the next two weeks. I'm looking forward to writing it. So stay tuned for  "Chapter 13: Sprite (Jake)"!! (No, not the drink…)**


	13. Sprite: Jake

Chapter 13 Sprite (Jake) 

            My name is Jake.

            We sat gathered in the barn. Everyone was silent. Harry sat by his lonesome in the corner. I caught Cassie sidling closer to him with every passing minute. Marco was lolling on a bale of hay, as he always did. Rachel leaned against the wall, scowling, with Tobias on her shoulder. Ax stood aloof from us. Hermione and Ron sat close together. Hermione was reading a book, as she would have if she were her normal self. Ginny stared blankly at the wall.

            I paced the length of the barn like a caged lion. Strategies whirled through my mind, the last more insane that the first. Harry needed his magic back before he went mad. Ron and Hermione needed their memories back to comfort him. I mean, the kid couldn't even play _Quidditch_ to get his nerves back! And Ginny… I didn't know what _her_ problem was as of the moment.

            "Anything useful in that book of yours, Hermione?" asked Marco suddenly, leaning forward.

            "Huh?" she asked, not looking up.

            Ron put his lips to her ear. She sat up straighter, turning her attention to him.

            Harry moaned softly.

            She snapped the book closed. "It might."

            _Now_ I was interested. "What do you mean, 'it might'?"

            "Well, it's a book about half-wizards."

            "And…?" I persisted.

            "You see, half-wizards happen to very useful in situations like these. They can sense when bad things are about to happen, but they can't tell _what_ it'll be, like a weak diviner. Not only that, but they can sense the emotions of those near them." She paused, thinking.

            "Yeah, so?" asked Marco.

            She ignored him and continued, "There are four types of half-wizards: earth, fire, air, and water."

            "The elements," Harry interrupted. Then, apologetically, he said, "We learned about them in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor—er—Crouch told us about how, in the time of Voldemort's reign, they were used to search out Death Eaters. They're becoming more useful now. 

"Fire and water half-wizards happen to very useful in battle, as they can control those elements. The Ministry is on the search for them again, Remus Lupin told me the last I saw him."

            Hermione glared at him. He fell silent.

            "_As_ I was saying, half-wizards are also called by another name: sprites. I believe they're a human legend, but they might have been called nymphs in _those_. In fact, they've had a myriad of names: elves, nymphs, imps, fairies, etc."

            Rachel cocked her head. "So you're saying that, if we had a sprite, we could come out successful?"

            Hermione chewed on her lower lip. "The thing is… I think you already _have_ a sprite."

            "What?" demanded Marco, turning around this way and that.

            "They're not what you think they are," she said impatiently. "They look like wizards and muggles: basically, like you and me. Note the term 'half-wizard'."

            Several people started to speak at once. I held up a hand to silence them. "Are you saying that _one of us_ is a sprite?"

            "Basically."

            As one, we all turned to look at Cassie.

            She paled several shades.

            "_M-me_?"

            Hermione got to her feet. "You _must _be. Whenever one of us is feeling upset or angry, you're always there to soothe us. Before the battle, you _knew_ something was going to go wrong."

            "But… I _can't_ be!" Cassie wailed, "I can't do magic—"

            "Of course you can't," interjected Hermione. "Sprite magic is different from wizard magic. We wizards use spells and, mostly, intellect. Our magic comes from what's inside of us. Sprites use their emotions to guide them and that of their elements. _Their_ magic comes from those around them. They use their hearts and emotions."

            "Wait a moment," Harry said, coming out of the shadows. He looked no better in the light than he had in his corner. "I'm a wizard, and I use the magic inside me. Believe me, I know. But I've done magic using my emotions, too. Like when I got angry with my Aunt Marge. She blew up like a balloon. And _I_'m not a half-wizard."

            "I _know_ you're a wizard," Hermione said. "But you're a special, _rare_ type of wizard. You're what we call a dryad: a wizard _and_ a sprite. There are only a few of those. I've had the suspicion that you're one, and my books proves that. And I believe your mother may have been one, too."

            "My—my _mother_?"

            "Yes. Everyone tells you how you have your mother's eyes. Well, one mark of being a dryad is having green eyes. And not just _any_ green eyes: ones like yours. I've never seen anyone with a color green _that_ electric."

            "Anyone else I should know about?" he asked weakly.

            "You-Know-Who is one, too."

            _He_ doesn't have green eyes, interjected Tobias.

            "No, he doesn't, does he?" Hermione asked. "But that's only because he's changed their color to red with all those immortality spells he's put on himself. His eyes _used_ to be green."

            Oh.

            "And Dumbledore is one, too."

            "_Dumbledore_?" demanded a chorus of voices and thought-speak.

            She nodded.

            "But his eyes are blue," said Ron quietly.

            Again, she nodded. "Blue-green, to be exact. Haven't you ever noticed that there is a shade of green in them?"

            "If sprites need to have a shade of green in their eyes, then how can _I_ be one?" asked Cassie timidly.

            "Because _you_'re a sprite. It doesn't matter what color eyes a sprite has."

            "And if I'm a sprite… then what's my element?"

            "Earth," replied Hermione, Marco, Rachel, and I in unison.

            "It's very apparent," Hermione said. "Look at yourself! You _love_ animals and trees: you're an ecology nut. Earth sprites often have special connections to animals. Sometimes they even have the gift of healing, and it looks like you might have that, too."

            "Do dryads have elements?" asked Harry.

            "Yes."

            "Then which one am I?"

            "Well… dryads often have a mix of elements. You seem to have a mixture of fire, air, and earth. From what I remember" —he cringed— "Phoenixes are attracted to you and you're decent on a broom, but you're also a Parsletongue. I definitely know that you dislike water, because of the Second Task…"

            He cleared his throat. "And Voldemort? Dumbledore?"

            "Voldemort is a mixture of fire, air, and earth, like you. And Dumbledore… well, he looks to be the most rare type of dryad there is."

            "And that is…"

            "He has _all_ the elements. He's the first in two hundred years."

            "No _wonder_ he's so powerful," Ron murmured, mostly to himself.

            "How come I've never sensed when something bad is about to happen before? And I've never sensed anyone's emotions before," asked Harry.

            "You have… you just haven't noticed it. You _know_ when Voldemort is going to do something, but you never know _what_. You _know_ what he's feeling. Remember? Your scar _hurts_ when something like that happens."

            A far away look appeared on Harry's face as realization dawned on him. "You're right…"

            "Of course I am."

            "Wait a moment…" Cassie said, hugging herself, "All the times I've ever thought something was going to go wrong… and all the emotions that I've felt that aren't _mine_… were real?"

            Hermione nodded.

            Cassie looked, quite frankly, horrified. I closed the gap between us and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned against me. I felt her shaking, so I held her more tightly.

            Marco opened him mouth and looked as if he might say something about it.

            Rachel hit him.

            His mouth snapped shut.

            Ron wheeled forward. "This sprite thing will turn out useful, right? Like, if we were going out to battle and Cassie got a bad feeling about it, we would know it would go wrong and stay home? And no one would get hurt?" He met Cassie's eyes. I wondered from a moment if he were doing this to cheer her up.

            Hermione nodded, shooting him a gratified look.

            "I can help us to avoid people getting hurt?" Cassie asked, standing more on her own now and not leaning on me.

            The two nodded.

            She smiled at me to show her thanks. I removed my arm from her shoulders.

            Rubbing my hands together, I asked, "Do dryads have more magic than regular wizards?"

            "Yes," Hermione said slowly. "They can control their elements. Fire dryads to fire, water dryads to water, air dryads to air, earth dryads to earth."

            "Would it have been taken by the Anti-Magic Ray?"

            A light dawned in her head and a radiant smile lit her face. "No."

            "Then I can…" Harry said, trailing off. A grin was spreading across his face. He began to look better than he had in days.

            "Yes, you can. Of course, you'd need to be trained up a bit."

            "And I'm _very_ glad you'll be doing that for him," I said, giving Hermione a very significant look.

            She opened her mouth to protest. Ron elbowed her lightly. She closed her mouth, pulling her lips tight.

            "Hermione, you have to train him to the best of your ability. You know him. He's a natural at spells." I winced when I realized what I had said. Then, recovering, I said, "We can't have him running to battle unprepared. If he can use his elements _as well as_ his ability to morph, he'll get his magic in no time."

            I didn't add that she would also regain her memory.

            Ron tugged on her sleeve. She looked down at him. "You should. No one deserves to live life without his magic," he said, very quietly.

            "Well…" she said begrudgingly, "Fine. I'll do it."

            I grinned at Ron. When Hermione had her back to him, he winked.

            _Shades of his old self_, I thought wryly.

            "Once he's trained up, are we going to kick some serious Yeerk butt?" Rachel, of course.

            Marco's eyebrows shot up. "What else are we going to do with them? Play strip poker?"

            "_Strip poker_?" she demanded.

            He grinned. "I wouldn't mind—"

            "Shut it, Marco. Just… shut it."

            "Zipping the lip," he replied humbly.

            Tobias cocked his head. With an almighty flap of his wings, he rose from his perch on Rachel's shoulder to the rafters. He observed the road outside with his amazing, bird-of-prey sight.

            Cassie's dad is about two minutes off. Ax, wizards, I suggest we go.

            "On it," Harry said, sliding out of the barn with a grin on his face.

            Hermione grabbed the back of Ron's wheelchair and shoved him out of the barn, followed by the silent Ginny. On the way out, she caught Marco's eye. He grinned suavely. She stuck her tongue out at him.

            Two minutes later, Cassie's dad entered the barn. He saw us all lazily sprawled across the barn and grinned. "Too hot to do anything else, huh?"

            Cassie smiled at her father. She held a baby raccoon the crook of her arm and was nursing it with a small bottle. "Yeah."

            "Thanks for doing that. I was afraid I would have to. Mom called me on the way home. Dinner will be ready in about two hours. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."

            "Thanks, Dad," she said. He winked at her, but then his eyes traveled along the extent of the barn and found Hermione's book… which she had forgotten.

            "What's this?" he asked, picking it up.

            My face drained of all color. I swallowed noisily and took it from him. He continued to stare at the cover.

            "I've never seen any of you reading before," he said slowly. "At least, not here."

            "It was mine," said a new voice from the doorway.

            If it were possible, I went paler. Harry stood in the doorway. He was wearing a T-shirt and designer jeans, the ones Rachel had picked out for him. Untied shoes that seemed to be a size too large shuffled into the barn. "I was just on my way out and I forgot it…" he said in his flawless American accent.

            "Who're you?" Cassie's dad asked.

            He grinned at me. "Henry Granger. I go to the school across town. See, I just moved in here from New York. I met Jake and Cassie at the mall and they invited me over here." He pointed to the book. "I have to read a book and do a report on it. Cassie's read it before and she offered to help me."

            Cassie, catching on quickly, took a step forward. "Yeah. He's just a friend of ours. I forgot to tell you about him. He left before you came home, but I guess he forgot his book."

            "Oh," Cassie's dad said, handing the book over. "Nice to meet you."

            Harry took the outstretched hand. "And you. Bye."

            And, without further ado, he left.

            Cassie's dad left the barn with a wave.

            I promptly turned to the others. "I'm going to kill him."

            "Well, you'll have to wait your turn," Marco said helpfully. "Voldemort wants to kill him, too. It'll be a little while before you get your chance."

            "Not _funny_, Marco," growled Rachel.

            He grinned and averted his eyes.

            I turned on heel and walked quickly out the door. "If he was caught… I'm going to kill him…"

            "Jake…" Cassie said, pattering after me.

            Marco shot her a grin. "Don't worry, Cassie. If Harry gets really mad at Jake, he'll just blow up like a balloon."

            I rolled my eyes. The others ran after me, laughing.

            I'm going to _kill_ him!

**A/N: Yes! I finished! But… it's the nicest day of the year. It's eighty degrees out for cripe's sake. WHAT AM I DOING INSIDE? Oh. Yeah. I've been stuck in here all day… ::mumble mumble::**

**But anyway, hope you liked it. ::grins:: And everything falls into place. First, sorry this took so long. Second, I'm sorry there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter.  I had to explain everything.**

**Excuses: School. The research paper I had (which I aced, by the way). My homework. Literary Society (book club, for all those who can't tell). My original fiction (now 156 pages long. Whoot!). I'll try to get the next chapter up more quickly!!**

**Stay tuned for "Chapter 14: Dryad-in-Training (Harry)"!!**


	14. Dryad in Training: Harry

Chapter 14 Dryad-in-Training (Harry) 

            My name is Harry Potter.

            And my dryad training was _not_ going well.

            Not well at all.

            "Look, Potter, just _concentrate_!" shrieked Hermione, "It can't be all that hard!"

            "Then let's see _you_ do it!" I shouted back.

            "_I_'m not the dryad!"

            I let lose an exasperated yell.

            Hermione, at the moment, was prodding me into making a tree stump explode. Cassie had informed us that her father had wanted to get rid of it, so it would be okay if we blew it up.

            Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, Ginny, and Ron sat and looked on as spectators. Ax was only-Godric-knows-where and Jake had to go out for his brother Tom's birthday.

            "Oh, will you both just _shut up_?" yelled Rachel. "Get on with it!"

            "I would if that—that—_woman_ would just focus!"

            Hermione let out an indignant screech at this just as Marco howled with laughter. Rachel promptly elbowed him in the stomach. Choking back his laughter, he dabbed his streaming eyes. I glared.

            "You—you—ARGH! You pompous jerk! You're _just_ like your jerk of a father!"

            My insides froze and my eyes narrowed dangerously. Involuntarily, my hands curled into fists. Hot bile rose in my throat. Anger made a vein in my temple throb. "_What_ did you just say?"

            A nasty smile took hold of her features. "I said you were a jerk. _JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER_!"

            My face was becoming a lovely shade of crimson. I took several deep breaths, trying futilely to calm myself down. I told myself that this was Voldemort's fault, but just the thought of Voldemort made me go over the top.

            Just then, Cassie yet out a yelp. My anger quickly became surprise. I whirled around, only to be pelted by burning chunks of wood. My robes caught fire. I quickly beat it out.

            I looked to see the stump. It wasn't there. Instead, I found a burnt crater.

            "Oops."

            "You could say that again," Marco said weakly.

            I cautiously walked over to it. All the anger I had felt had disappeared. "Did I do that?"

            "Yeah," Rachel said, eyes glinting, "And what an explosion! Suddenly, you were standing there with your face was turning puce and then _boom_! it exploded!"

            Well, Tobias said, ruffling his feathers, Now we know what sets you off.

            "That's what caused me to blow my aunt up," I said, my ears turning red.

            Marco promptly burst into laughter.

            Ron smiled. "You can't be at fault, Harry. Some subjects aren't meant to be mentioned."

            I took several deep breaths. _Breathe, Harry, _breathe_, _I chanted.

            "I've a question," Cassie said suddenly. "I read somewhere that dryads are _earthen_ spirits. Why is Harry a dryad, then? Aren't _I _one?"

            "They're called dryads because of their eyes," Hermione said loftily. "They're green. Like leaves."

            "Oh."

            Hermione turned back to me. I averted my eyes, unable to face the Hermione's suddenly cold ones.

            "Again," she intoned.

            I took a deep breath and looked about me. There wasn't anything else to blow up… or that could afford to be blown up, at least. Cassie would never forgive me if I set fire to the barn.

            "On what?"

            She narrowed her eyes. "Anything."

            "Hey, hey, hey! Wait a minute!" Cassie interrupted. "What if he sets fire to the barn?"

            See what I mean? She would never have forgiven me…

            "Is there anything else Harry could practice on?" Ron suggested quietly.

            Cassie looked thoughtful. "No," she said finally.

            Hermione nodded and consulted her book. "We could practice something else," she said, leafing through the pages. "Hmmm… we could try fire-walking. Fire dryads should be able to walk to do that."  
            "If I had known I could do that, I would have had such an easier time with my life…" I muttered sourly, thinking of both first and fourth year.

            She ignored me and continued to read, her mouth forming the words. "All it says is that the fire won't burn you. _If_ you believe, that is," she said, snapping it shut.

            "Dad keeps firewood behind the barn," Cassie said helpfully.

            "I'll get it," chorused Rachel and Marco. He grinned at Rachel, who scowled fiercely.

            "You first, my dear," he said suavely, gesturing.

            "I always thought the saying went 'ladies first'," she quipped, nevertheless getting to her feet and striding out of sight.

            "She loves me," he said, winking at Ginny.

            She rolled her eyes.

            He got up and ran to help Rachel.

            Hermione drew her wand as they came back, dragging the firewood. They dropped the wood in the crater, so as not to set the nearby woods on fire. Then, they scuttled back to their seats to watch.

            "Harry, set it on fire," Hermione said commandingly.

            "How?"

            "The spell should work for you."

            "Whatever you say," I muttered, turning to it. Taking a deep breath, I held my hands out before me. I knew the spell well enough, but I wasn't quite sure it would work.

            I waved my arms about in a grand gesture. "_Incendio_!"

            Nothing happened.

            I raised a quizzical eyebrow at Hermione.

            She heaved an exasperated sigh. "The whole power of a dryad reflects his belief in it, plus the influence of his emotions. You have to _believe_ you can do this. It shouldn't be _that_ hard. I mean, you've done it before."

            "I have?"

            "Yes. When you blew up your Aunt Marge. She inflated like a balloon, you said! That was dryad air magic!"

            "I didn't believe then!"

            "But you were angry! And that besides, you didn't know it would happen. Just _believe_ in it, will you?"

            Seething, I turned back to the firewood. Anger bubbled in my chest. I held out my hands to it, telling myself that I _believed_, that I had _done_ it before. "_Incendio_!"

            Saying that the firewood exploded would be an exaggeration; it only leapt into flame, shooting up about ten feet into the air.

            "_Whoa_," said Rachel, Marco, Cassie, Ron, and Ginny in unison.

            I blinked at it as it simmered down into a cackling bonfire. If the area around it had once been burned, it was more so now.

            "That's good," Hermione said, nodding in reluctant praise. "Now go stand in it."

            "_Stand_ in it?"

            "Or put you hands in it, at least," she said irritably.

            I sighed and walked carefully down the blackened crater. Though the fire had reduced its size, it was still as tall as me. I eyed it uneasily. It looked ready enough to burn me.

            "Would you do it already?" Hermione demanded.

            I extended my hand toward the fire. Heat pressed against my skin. Yeah, so maybe I had set the firewood on fire. Any wizard could do that. But I had never seen a wizard touch fire and go unscathed.

            "_Believe_ in yourself, Harry," murmured a voice behind me.

            I turned my head slightly to see who had spoken. Ginny's mouth formed the words again. She leaned forward anxiously, hands clasped in a silent prayer.

A shiver ran down my spine and I turned back to the fire. Though Ginny had… well, our last real conversation had been one to remember, she was still my friend, and if she told me to believe, then I should.

            "I can do this," I murmured through clenched teeth, and thrust my hands into the fire.

            My eyes widened slightly. I felt the flames, licking my skin and clothes. However, it felt comfortably warm rather than scalding hot.

            An insuppressible grin fought its way to my lips. I took a deep breath and, glancing back at the astonished faces of Ginny and the Animorphs, took a step into the fire.

            My senses suddenly went super aware of everything around me. The smell of smoke and burning wood filled my nostrils, though it didn't choke me. My eyes seemed to penetrate the flames, letting me view the world through clear red-orange sight.

The fire streamed down my throat and into my lungs. I flared my nostrils and exhaled. A torrent of flames licked my nose and mouth.

            My hair and clothes flapped as if they were caught in a strong wind. I brought my hands before my face. They weren't burning, as they should have been.

            "_Wow_," I breathed.

            "Yeah, wow, amazing. This is getting dull. Would you get out of there?" Hermione said snippily.

            I tore myself out of the flame and into the cool summer air. The last remnants of flame in my respiratory system left when I coughed, expelling fire through my mouth.

            That was cool, said Tobias, attempting to sound nonchalant.

            "Cool? That was beyond cool!" yelped Marco. "That was awesome!"

            I turned back to the fire and grabbed two fistfuls of fire. Spreading my palms wide, I allowed the two fireballs over my hands. I did this for one reason, and one reason only: to impress.

            "Stop showing off," snapped Hermione.

            Looking only slightly hurt, I closed my hands around the fire. I felt them go out in my hands.

            She opened the book again. "That's enough fire for one day. Let's try some air."

            I accomplished a half-shrug. "Fine with me."

            She put her finger to the page and traced a line. Her forehead wrinkled as she thought, her eyebrows contracting. A small smile touched my lips. Voldemort may have changed her, but nothing could take away her cleverness.

            "This says air dryads can accomplish flight, strong winds, and cause weather change. They can even catch what is being said from up to a mile away by catching a sentence on a breeze and guiding that breeze down to their ears. Interesting."

            "Flight?" I asked eagerly, my fingers itching for my Firebolt.

            "Not on a broomstick," she said, as if she had read my mind.

            I frowned slightly. Well… I could make due without Quidditch for just a few more days.

            "How do I 'accomplish flight'?" I asked.

            And wished I hadn't.

            Because, two minutes later, I was standing on the roof of the barn.

            "I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered.

            Believe it, said Tobias, eyeing me up with one beady yellow eye, You're doing it.

            I laughed weakly.

            "Okay, Harry," Hermione said, peering over the edge of the roof toward the ground. It rested some fifteen feet below us. "All you have to do is jump off."

            "That's all?" I asked. "It sounds like you want to kill me."

            "I'm _not_. Your fear should cause your dryad air magic to react and catch you."

            "_'Should'_?" I repeated, looking up sharply.

            She put a hand on my shoulder and raised her brow. "Feeling lucky?" she asked, giving me a shove.

            "AAAAAARGH!"

            I'll admit that this scared all irrational thought out of me. I yelped wildly as the first five feet flashed past. This was when I noticed that my descent began to slow.

            I swallowed noisily when I came to a complete stop when I hovered some five feet above the ground. It felt odd to be hovering in midair without a broomstick.

            Closing my eyes, I willed myself to be upright. A gasp wracked my body when I shifted in the air and my body straightened.

            My feet touched something that felt like solid ground. Surprised, I tapped it with one of my feet. It didn't give way and realization dawned upon me.

            "This isn't flight!" I crowed, "The air just solidified! I'm standing on solid air!"

            Below me, I heard Marco say, "That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one."

            I took several experimental steps. The air under my feet held firm. "Amazing!"

            "Hey!" I called as I spotted a flash of blue in the woods ahead of me. "Here comes Ax!"

            Indeed, Ax came skidding up to us only minutes later. He turned his main eyes to his friends and, when he saw them looking up, followed their gaze.

            That is quite abnormal.

            "That's it in a nutshell, Ax-man." Marco, of course.

            I closed my eyes again and took another step. I nearly had a heart attack when my foot feel and sighed in relief when my foot thumped against the air a foot below the other.

            I stepped back up and turned around to face Hermione. Her eyes were wide in surprise. I flashed her a grin and took a step up, simply willing and believing that my foot would hit solidified air.

            I did this several more times, stopping when I stood in the air just in front of her. She stared into my eyes and what seemed to be a shade of her old self glinted in her own.

            I took her hands in mine and drew her forward. She didn't object, only stared down at the ground through the solid air we stood on.

            "Godric," she breathed.

            I took a step down. She didn't expect this and fell forward, pitching herself into me. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held onto her.     

            Together, like participants in a three-legged race, we walked to the ground.

            The instant our feet touched solid earth she shoved me off. I took a step back, wind milled my arms, and fell over, landing of course in a puddle of mud.

            I groaned.

            "Don't you touch me like that again," she snarled.

            Ginny offered me a hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. Wiping my hands on my jeans (the ones Rachel had bought me), I said, "Thanks."

            "No problem."

            "Is there anything else I should do?" I asked Hermione.

            She sniffed and rifled through her book once more. "You seem to be a natural at all of these," she admitted reluctantly. "We could work on calling up strong winds and weather change. Says here you could make it rain."

            "Could you please not make it rain?" asked Ron, though not unkindly. "We have to sleep outside, if you remember."

            "Oh, yeah. That wouldn't be good, now, would it?" Hermione said, casting Ron a loving look.

            I sighed and looked anywhere but at them.

            "What about my earth powers?" I asked, not looking up.

            "Well…" she said, looking up into the sunset. "It's getting late. Cassie's dad will be home soon, and I was hoping to train the two of you at the same time. Let's do it tomorrow."

            "Fine with me," I said, mind reeling. It was only a matter of time, now. How much longer could this go on? Days? Weeks?

I was soon to find out.

A/N: Bahahaha! It's _ALIVE_! Sorry, sorry, and sorry to you all! I'm just over my severe case of writer's block. This chapter was a trial for me. Hopefully, it won't take long for the next one. 

My number one excuse: I was finishing my original fiction which, I am proud to say, is 201 PAGES LONG! All I need to do is rewrite and send in to a publisher… bwahaha! (Don't crush my goals… a girl can dream!)

**I must say that the only reason I finished this chapter is, really, because I'm incapacitated. I flipped off my bike a couple of days ago and landed, yes, on my head. (Thank Godric I had a helmet on!) I scraped up my elbow pretty bad, plus spraining it, and bruised my whole left side. Not to mention both legs are covered in scrapes and bruises. (Yes, pity me, that's what I'm looking for! ::wink wink::)**

**Now, on to the next important thing: THE HARRY/HERMIONE RELATIONSHIP. I've had a few people complain to me about that. I have to inform you all now: it was an accident. I didn't mean for Harry and Hermione to fall in love. It just sort of… happened. Really, I'm a Hermione/Ron shipper at heart. See, Ron was a Controller, which left Harry and Hermione by themselves and it just… happened. Besides, this gives me a chance for some Animorph/wizard relationships and/or crushes!**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Whenever it seems like I have stopped the story and/or haven't updated for a long time, I HAVE NOT STOPPED THE STORY. It keeps on going. I do not forget you! It just means I have writer's block, a school project, or I'm just being lazy (though the first two are more likely). **

**Last, but not least, stay tuned for "Chapter 15: Captain Planet (Rachel)"!!!!!!!!!!**


	15. Captain Planet: Rachel

Chapter 15 Captain Planet (Rachel) 

            My name is Rachel.

            The full Animorph and Aniwizard teams, plus both Weasley children, were assembled at the barn again. This time, Jake and Ax joined us. Though Jake mentioned nothing of Tom's birthday party, the bags under his eyes seemed a little darker and his mouth was pulled into a thinner line.

            I shuddered to think at what must have happened.

            Today was one of those days that reminded you it was summer. The temperatures were soaring, settling in the upper nineties. The air was heavy with humidity, which made breathing a laborious task.

            I leaned against the wall of the barn, in nothing but my morphing outfit, fanning myself with my hand. Marco had sprawled himself on a bale of hay the moment he arrived and hadn't moved since. Cassie, mindless of the heat, was distributing water to the animals. Jake paced, as he always did, though sweat dripped steadily down his face and his head hung. Tobias perched high in the rafters. Ax stood stoically in his normal form.

            Across the room, Harry sat on the ground with his back against the refrigerator. He had stripped off his sweater and sat in the light T-shirt and shorts I had picked out for these temperatures, though it clung to his skin with sweat.

            His eyes never left Hermione, who sat on a bale of hay near Marco, though he blinked often. She was wearing a tank top she had borrowed from me and shorts. Her head rested against Ron's wheelchair. Ron sat limply in his wheelchair, arms draped inertly over the armrests. Head tipped back, he stared at the ceiling.

            Ginny, who stood directly across from Harry, had pinned her hair into a bun at the back of her head. A shining veneer of sweat covered her skin. Her pale cheeks were flushed.

            "It shouldn't be allow to get this _hot_," moaned Marco finally.

            Without moving, Ginny retorted, "At least you're used to it."

            "I'm used to _air conditioning_," he said, stressing the word. "I don't come outside the four walls of my room if I can help it."

            "No one could get used this," Hermione mumbled.

            "It's oppressive," Cassie agreed, wiping perspiration from her forehead.

            Ron, who continued to stare at the ceiling, muttered, "I wouldn't mind if it rained now."

            The sun glared relentlessly down outside. I squinted out the barn door. A June bug hummed lazily.

            Precipitation would, indeed, allow for cooler temperatures and arid air, Ax said helpfully.

            Lethargically, Hermione turned to look at Harry. The rest of us followed suit.

            A loud snore alerted us to the fact he wasn't listening.

            "That helps," Marco cackled.

            Jake, who was the closest to Harry, prodded him with his toe. Harry shot bolt upright, his electric green eyes wide and bloodshot.

            "What? What's going on?" he demanded thickly.

            "Do you think you could make with the magic and change the weather?" Marco asked, wiggling his fingers to further stress his point.

            Glaring, I rasped, "Shut _up_, Marco."

            He merely looked at me and said, "You know you're thinking it."

            I glowered at him and said nothing, for what he said was true.

            Harry struggled to his feet and rolled his head on his shoulders, causing the joints in his neck to crack loudly. He narrowed his eyes to protect his eyes from the glare of sun when he looked outside. Flexing his fingers, he said, "I could do that."

            Hermione pulled her book on to her lap and flipped through the pages. She narrowed her eyes at the small print, saying, "Says we have to be outside to do it."

            Which aroused groans from all the assembled.

            Slowly, we all trooped outside. It seemed even hotter in the sun, if that was even possible. I edged into the meager shade and hunched my shoulders, scowling. As it was almost noon, there wasn't much.

            "Okay," Hermione said, sweat standing out on her forehead. She placed the voluminous textbook on her hip. "Harry, close your eyes. Now, it says you have to… er… _cast_ yourself on to the air and… erm… drag it back."

            Harry, who had closed his eyes, opened one and peered at her. "_What_?"

            "That's what it says," she snapped.

            He shrugged. "Whatever you say," he mumbled, closing his eyes once more.

            Everything fell silent but for the lone hum of a June bug. A light summer breeze stirred the air. Marco wrinkled his nose but smiled as it wafted Ginny's hair into his face.

            Quite suddenly, Harry collapsed into a heap. There was no warning; one moment he was standing, the next he was on the ground.

            "Harry!" Ginny gasped, starting forward.

            Marco grabbed her by the arm and slowly shook his head, his eyes fixated on some point in the sky. "No," he whispered. "Look."

            Irritated, she looked up. Her face paled behind her freckles, annoyance giving way to surprise.

            I put a hand to my forehead to shade my eyes and looked skyward. My eyes went round in shock, though I was careful to keep my expression emotionless.

            Clouds were swelling in the sky off to the north. Rain could be seen pouring steadily from them. They moved toward us with surprising speed.

            Amazing, Ax said.

            In a matter of moments, the rain clouds were upon us in a curtain of water. An involuntary gasp left my lips as cool relief from the heat slid over my body. I closed my eyes and flared my nostrils, deeply inhaling the scent of the rain.

            I opened my eyes when Tobias shook his feathers and sought refuge in the barn. I hate rain, he mumbled. It gets in my feathers.

            Harry stirred. He brought a hand to his face, feeling the water. His eyelids fluttered and opened.

            "You did it, Harry!" Ginny exulted, beaming.

            He sat up and rubbed his head. "I sure did. And gave myself one, monstrous headache."

            In the few moments that passed, I had become completely soaked. My hair clung in clumps to my neck and face. It dripped in rivulets down my face.

            Everything's wet, Tobias said sourly.

            Harry eased himself to his feet. "Yeah. Sorry, Tobias."

            It's fine, Tobias said, taken aback.

            Pulling his glasses from his face, Harry tried futilely to dry them on his robes. His shoved them back on his nose when this didn't work and blinked at us.

            "Oh, _give it here_," Hermione demanded, holding her hand out.

            Harry meekly pulled his glasses off and put them in her outstretched hand.

            She whipped her wand out and tapped the glasses. "_Impervious_."

            To my surprise, all the water that had clung to the lenses slid off. She shoved them back at Harry, who put them back on with a grateful, "Thanks. I'd've done it myself—"

            "You didn't even know the spell," Hermione said with a snort.

            Harry fell into a stony silence.

            "Could you do that to my clothes—or, even better, my whole body?" I asked hopefully.

            Hermione looked thoughtful. "It's possible…" she said slowly.

            "What's the worst that could happen?"

            "Well… it could, instead, attract water and cause the all the water from miles around to cling to your body and drown you."

            I blinked.

            Once.

            Twice.

            "Oh." I said, disheartened. Then, "We could practice it on Marco."

            "Anything so that my dearest Ginny will not get wet," Marco said sweetly, giving Ginny a flashy wink and sidling closer to her.

            Ginny scowled heavily and turned her head, nose in the air.

            "Oh," he hissed, wincing. "Unrequited love. It stings."

            Hermione held her wand out level with Marco's chest and quirked an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

            He shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "You only live once!" he said, with fake bravado. He was obviously trying to impress Ginny.

            It didn't seem to be working.

            "Ready?" Hermione asked.

            Marco closed his eyes and nodded, throwing his arms out wide. "Hit me!"

            "_Impervious_!"

            A blast of magic rippled through the rain and hit him in the chest. He took a step back when he felt it and, with his eyes remaining closed, asked, "Did I drown yet?"

            "Nope, spandex boy," I said. "Maybe if you open your eyes you'd see."

            He opened one of his eyes a hair and glanced down. A grin spread across his face when he realized that the rain was sliding off of him. "Cool!"

            Hermione performed the spell on each of us in turn and, finally, pointed the wand at herself.

            "That's better," Jake said once she finished. "Now let's get down to business. Hermione, tell us all you know about earth sprites and dryads."

            "Well," she said, consulting her book, "It says here that they should have some kind of bond with animals. Obviously, Cassie already has. I don't know about Harry, though… I've seen him abuse Hedwig…"

            "I do _not_," Harry said, irked.

            "Er," Ginny interjected, "She has a point. When you've had a bad day or something, I've seen you take it out of Hedwig. I just haven't said anything about it."

            He glared icy green daggers at her. Her lips pulled into a thin line and, thinking she somehow needed to justify this statement, said, "It's _true_."

            "But," Cassie interrupted, "It would explain about that lion at the Gardens."  
            "That's true," Jake said, nodding appreciatively.

            "It also says that they should be able to speed up the growth of plants and cause random bursts of vegetation," Hermione continued.

            "Never done that," Harry said at the same time Cassie intoned, "I can't do _that_."

            "Yes, you can," Hermione said in answer to Cassie's statement. "It's only a matter of believing and harnessing your emotions."

            "Speed up plant growth, eh?" Harry asked, swinging his arms. "What do I have to do so I can do that?"

            "Says here just by having a swell of emotion and concentrating it on that plant. It also says love is the best emotion to use to cause plant growth. Huh. Interesting."

            "Okay. I can do that." Harry turned to a sapling tree and held his hands out in front of him. His brow furrowed as he thought. A sigh caused his chest to swell. His eyelids fluttered.

            "I can do this, I can do this," I heard him muttering under his breath.

            The sapling began to shake. Its leaves made a soft shushing sound as they rubbed against each other. I watched with amazement as it shot up a couple of feet and that added height flopped over.

            Harry peered at it and frowned. Then, closing his eyes and biting down hard on his lip, he tried again.

            The part that had flopped over began to fill out, as if it were an empty tube being filled. It rose slowly and grew another couple of inches. Small, green buds began popping into existence and unfurling, becoming full green leaves.

            It was exactly like watching a movie of a flower's growth set in fast forward. I watched in wonderment. It was an amazing thing to behold.

            At last, when it was about Harry's height, it stopped growing. Harry let his hands fall to his sides, gasping, and looked at it.

            "Wow," he said, amazed with himself.

            Cassie stared at the tree. "I could never do that," she whispered.

            "Sure you could," Jake said reassuringly. "But it won't work if you don't believe in yourself. If it's worth anything, _I_ believe in you."

            Her eyes misted over for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, "Okay. I'll do it."

            Marco shot me a significant look and raised his eyebrows. I scowled, slowly shaking my head. A grin spread across his face and he leaned against the barn wall, whistling and twiddling his thumbs.

            Cassie turned to the sapling. Though it was taller than her, it hadn't fully matured. She held out her hands and closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed.

            "Believe," Jake muttered tensely. I'm sure he didn't think anyone could hear him.

            The crease of concentration on her forehead deepened. Her fingers trembled. I saw her jaw muscles stand out as she grit her teeth.

            The sapling shivered and groaned, its leaves once again making a soft susurration. Suddenly, with a movement that made me gasp, the tree shot to its full height. Leaves exploded on branches that stabbed out into the air.

            Cassie staggered back as she released the tree. Jake leapt forward and caught her. She gasped for breath, looking up to see what she had done.

            My mouth gaped open.

            "Wow," she breathed.

            Hermione blinked at the tree in a stupor. She opened and closed her mouth soundlessly for a moment, then, regaining her voice, said, "Well. Er. I didn't know you were _that_ powerful."

            That is amazing, Ax said, his voice betraying his stoic expression.

            "I didn't know I could do that," Cassie said quietly.

            Hermione fumbled through her book. "Erm. According to this, Cassie, it seems… er… that you are… erm…. How do I put this? Um. You are as powerful as the second strongest sprite in the world."

            "But—I can't—" Cassie spluttered.

            "You can," Hermione said firmly. "And you are."  
            "I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had tried to," Harry murmured.

            "Of course you wouldn't have," Hermione snapped. "Your power is spread out over three different elements. Hers is concentrated into one. That besides, it seems like she is more powerful. Few people are able to reach elemental power like that. And anyway, it looks like your prime element—that is, the element a dryad is most comfortable with—is fire."

            "Ah," he said, pretending he understood.

            She rifled through the pages again, chewing on her lip. "Okay, random bursts of vegetation. Let's see if you two can do that."

            Harry shrugged and spread his legs apart at shoulder width. Holding his hands out before him, he furrowed his brow and began to concentrate. Cassie mimicked him.

            The ground in front of Cassie rumbled. It swelled, as if something beneath it were trying to break through. I took a nervous step back into the barn.

            Harry stopped in his concentration to watch. Tobias ruffled his feathers nervously.

            Perspiration stood out on Cassie's forehead. Her fingers tightened as if holding something. Then, with a gasp, she fell back into Jake's arms again.

            The ground exploded, sending clods of dirt flying everywhere. Harry dived out of the way and rolled. I ducked as a clod of dirt hurtled at my face. It smacked the wall behind me and slid down.

            I looked back to see what happened. Thousands upon thousands of wild flowers stood in a patch before Cassie, who was untouched by the dirt. Their stems intertwined; their petals pushed at one another to get to the top. Rain pattered softly down on them.

            Harry scrambled back to his feet. He stared at the patch of flowers.

            "You know what this reminds me of?" I asked and, before anyone could reply, said, "_Captain Planet_. That really weird cartoon with these kids and they had rings that controlled the elements."

            Nine pairs of eyes burrowed into mine.

Marco ogled openly, his mouth open in his incredulity. Then, after a moment, he burst into fits of hysterical laughter. "You _watched_ that show?"

            My face became an interesting shade of scarlet. "Jordan used to. I saw parts of it. I mean, I didn't go sit down and actually _watch_ it…"

            "I can't believe this!" he crowed. "Amazon warrior Rachel, our very own Xena, watched _Captain Planet_! _I_ wouldn't even watch it! Heh. Wasn't there this loser kid whose element was _love_?"

            "Yeah," I said heatedly, "And he looked like _you_."

            Miffed, he retorted, "He _did not_!"

            "I thought you didn't watch that show."

            "I don't!"

            "Then how do _you_ know?"

            "I—I—um—I—"

            "Exactly."

            "Who's Captain Planet?" asked Ron, nonplussed.

            He's a cartoon character, Tobias explained. When Ron continued to look confused, he continued, A TV show. You know. Uh. The tellie? Television?

            "Oh. That box muggles watch moving pictures in?"

            Yes. The box muggles watch moving pictures in. A TV show is a story… make-believe. Pretend. Imaginary. Or, at least, a cartoon is. Captain Planet is just a character on a TV—um, tellie—show.

            "Ah," Ron said, smiling and nodding like he understood.

            Should we not continue with Harry's dryad lessons? asked Ax. His stalk eyes wandered, absently taking in the woods behind us. I see no point to this.

            "Yes. Yes. We should," Jake said, rubbing his hands together. "Harry?"

            "On it," Harry said. He closed his eyes and held his hands out again.

            We all watched rather nervously as he concentrated. A frown pulled at his lips as he thought, and it shortly became a scowl. His fingers tensed and whitened.

            The ground didn't swell as it had when Cassie was working her magic. Instead, sickeningly green shoots sprouted out of the ground, writhing like snakes. Dark colored flowers budded and burst into bloom.

            "Someone's got some issues he needs to work out," Marco said.

            Harry took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His eyebrows shot skyward when he saw his plants and he stared in incredulity.

            Instinctively, I knew—as did the others—that these flowers were the embodiment of all of Harry's hate. Thousands of flowers in disgustingly dark colors filled the ground. I didn't know how a person could bottle that much hate inside himself. Not even I could.

            I took a timid step nearer the patch of flowers and bent down. My eyes came to rest on the biggest flower of the bunch: a black rose.

            The rose was taller than the other flowers. Its petals were flawlessly black. Wickedly sharp thorns protruded from the stem, which was a dark forest green.

            Jake looked a little disturbed. He cleared his throat. "Um. I think we should call it quits for the day. Every seems like they need a rest."

            Harry nodded and winced as Hermione snapped her book shut. Without another word, he walked towards the woods and disappeared in the torrential rain. Ginny shrugged at us and followed him.

            "Sorry he's so rude," Hermione said, scowling off after him. "It's not his fault. He was just born that way."

            Ron shot us an apologetic look. Hermione took the back of his wheelchair and went after the two.

            No one said anything for a few moments.

            Then, "We still have that spell on us. How will I take a shower?"

            Marco, of course.

            There was a general murmur of similar comments. I couldn't take my eyes from the darkly colored flowers. Finally, I tore my eyes away and said, "Someone should go after Hermione and get her to take the spell off."  
            Everyone else murmured his or her consent with the idea.

            After a minute or two, Jake said, "Thanks for volunteering. And tell them to be at the barn tomorrow eleven."

            I opened my mouth to argue and then closed it again, realizing that it would be futile. Sighing, I got to my feet and padded off after them.

            I didn't have to go very far before I heard shouting.

            "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Ginny's voice cut through the rain like a knife.  
            "BACK OFF, GINNY!" Hermione's voice made my eardrums throb.  
            "WHY DON'T _YOU_!?"

            I froze and turned my ear toward the shouting.

            "Please, stop arguing, stop it, please…" Ron begged, moaning.

            "WHY?" Hermione thundered.

            "He's been through a lot," he replied quietly. "No one should have that much hate inside himself. He deserves to be pitied."

            "I DON'T WANT TO BE PITIED!" Harry roared. "EVERYONE SHUT UP! IT'S LIKE I'M NOT EVEN _HERE_! HERMIONE, YOU HAVE NO _REASON_ TO HATE ME! ALL I'VE EVER DONE IS LOVE YOU! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME! YOU PROMISED I WOULD NEVER LOSE YOU!"

            "Harry," Ginny said in a hushed voice. "Harry. She's not herself. She doesn't remember—"

            "AND YOU! YOU—YOU _USED_ ME! YOU MADE ME BREAK A PROMISE! THE GUILT FROM THAT HAS BEEN _EATING ME ALIVE_! I FEEL LIKE I BETRAYED HER! I KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT IT WASN'T MY FAULT! AND IT WASN'T! IT WAS _YOURS_!"

            I wondered for a moment who the "her" mentioned in this spiel was. Then I decided I knew who it was.

            Then he rounded on Ron. "I DON'T _WANT_ TO BE PITIED! ONCE, A LONG TIME AGO, YOU WERE MY FRIEND BECAUSE OF WHO I WAS! NOT BECAUSE I WAS FAMOUS! NOT BECAUSE I 'DESERVED TO BE PITIED'! BECAUSE I WAS _ME_!

            "YOU—YOU TWO—RON, HERMIONE, YOU WERE ALWAYS THERE FOR ME! RON, YOU NEARLY DIED FOR ME! HERMIONE, YOU USED TO _LOVE_ ME! I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE! JUST _LEAVE ME ALONE_!"

            I shifted. A twig snapped under my foot. The voices fell silent.

            Then Ginny called in a tearful voice, "Who's there?"

            "Uh," I said, sliding forward. "Me."

            I could see them now. Ginny's face was white and she was trembling violently. Ron gripped the arms of his wheelchair tightly. Hermione's face was mauve with anger.

I gave Harry a sideways glance. His face was crimson. His chest rose and fell rapidly. Eyes glinting feverishly, hands balled into fists as his sides, he glared at me as if daring me to mention his argument.

            "Er," I said, for lack of better word.

            "What do you want?" Ron asked, though not unkindly.

            "Uh. We—the Animorphs, that is—we still have that spell on us. Can you take it off?"

            "It wears off," Hermione said through grit teeth.

            I nodded and took a step back. Again, I glanced at Harry. Fire danced in his eyes. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was breathing it.

            "And Jake says to be at the barn by eleven o'clock tomorrow."

            They continued to stare at me. I nodded again and turned on heel, swiftly leaving the woods.

I mulled things through, turning them over and over in my mind. Harry was fast approaching his breaking point. One person could only stand so much.

 And if he snapped…

            Well, I didn't want to think about it.

            The others weren't making it better. Hermione hated him with no reason he saw. Ron pitied him (which, I knew, was maddening). Ginny… I didn't know what Ginny had done, but he was certainly enraged at her as well.

            He just had to hold on a little while longer, I told myself. We were going to get his magic and his friends' memories back soon. I could tell by the glint in Jake's eye. He was planning something.

            But if we didn't make it in time…

            Goodbye, freewill.

            If Harry went to the Yeerks, our secret would be discovered. The revelation to the Yeerks that we had been prolonging since the beginning—our biggest secret, one of our weaknesses—would occur long before we expected it.

            Discovery was inevitable, this was true, but it didn't have to be because of a betrayal.

            But Harry wouldn't betray us. He couldn't. Not the Harry we knew…

            Then again, I thought, this _wasn't_ the Harry we knew. He had been changed. It was his fault, true. He hadn't changed voluntarily. But all the hate that surrounded him, all the animosity…

            I shook my head, as if trying to dislodge the thoughts from my mind. Needless to say, it didn't work.

When I was sure no one would hear me, I bolted back to the barn.

**A/N: Yay! I finished a chapter! Again, sorry it took so long. I've been lazy. But, then again, I've been volunteering somewhere for the last five days. ::yawn:: I'm _tired_!**

**Celestial Hikari, thanks for the advice! ::wink wink:: My story has, actually, 101, 964 words. And I'm rewriting, so there's bound to be more!**

**But anyway, I wish to make a point. Harry _does_ abuse Hedwig sometimes. That's always irked me. He's mean to Hedwig when he's feeling stressed out. ::pout:: That's not fair to Hedwig!**

**And I'm going to be getting into some action in the next chapter. I haven't had much of that in the past eight chapters or so. Harry gets so show off some his dryad-ish powers. (By the way, I'm planning some really great elemental battle scenes between Harry and Voldemort for the last battle!) ::strokes chin::**

**Stay tuned for "Chapter 16: Mock Battle (Ron)"!!**


	16. Mock Battle: Ron

Chapter 16 Mock Battle (Ron) 

My name is Ron Weasley.

Harry hadn't spoken since the argument yesterday afternoon. He had shrouded himself in a cloak of maddening ignorance, becoming unaware of all that which was around him. I constantly found his gaze resting upon Hermione, though sometimes I caught him staring at me.

Poor boy. He deserved to be pitied, though he did not see this. I continued to do so anyway.

I pondered over his argument. Most of what he said had been cryptic. I had not understood what he had been talking about.

"Ginny?" I asked quietly. It was very early in the morning, about five or six. Everyone, by this time, had adjusted to the time change so that they were still sleeping.

She murmured something in her sleep. It sounded oddly like, "It's only a spider, Ron…"

Across the clearing, Harry moaned. I heard him shift uneasily on his bedroll and froze, head cocked and listening. His moan rose in volume. "Sirius… _Sirius_… Come back. You have to come back! You always come back… you _always_ come back… you can't die…"

He fell silent once more, though his breathing was harsh and erratic.

I chewed thoughtfully on my lower lip. Should I wake him? He was obviously dreaming about Sirius's death. I sighed and decided against it.

I shook Ginny's shoulder again. "Ginny…" I whispered.

Her brow furrowed and she stirred, waking. "Ron…" she croaked without opening her eyes. "Go back to sleep. 'S too early."

"Please?" I wheedled.

She opened her eyes and focused on me. Propping herself up on her elbows, she asked, "What?"

"I—I just wanted to ask you something."

"Couldn't you do this later?" she asked, irked.

"No. I don't want the others to hear."

"And why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"  
"Please?" I tried again.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Fine."

"Would you answer me truthfully?" I prodded on anxiously.

"Whatever."

I took a deep breath. "What was Harry on about yesterday?"

Ginny seemed suddenly wide-awake and surly. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because Harry won't talk to me and you seem to be the only one apart from him who knows what is going on."

She thought on this. "Logical," she conceded.

I waited politely for her to continue.

She thought for a moment, studying my wheelchair. "You won't believe me."

"You're my sister. Of course I will."

She stared up into my eyes, as if she were searching for something. Her brow creased once more. "But you're not my brother," she said, very quietly. "Not anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not the brother I grew up. Not Quidditch-loving, brash, spider-fearing Ron. Not the Ron who knew nothing about emotions. Or who cared. Not the Ron who nearly died to save Harry from enslavement. Not the Ron who went into the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius. Not the Ron who has stuck by Harry through everything he had to endure.

"You're still Ronald Bilious Weasley. Just not the one I know."

I remained silent, too shocked to say anything.

"You-Know-Who took your memory away," she continued quietly. "And now you're someone else. It's the same thing with Hermione. He did it to make Harry's life a living hell. To break him into pieces. Small, individual little pieces."

"That can't be true—"

"It is," she interjected, looking straight into my eyes. "I said you wouldn't believe me."

"But how could that be?"

Her stare was piercing now, and unblinking. "You never pitied Harry. You were his best friend because of who he was. And Hermione was his girlfriend. You were fine with this. You never minded. In fact, I remember you following them around after the Yeerk invasion and telling them how long it took them to get together."

I stared at my sister, gazing but not really seeing.

"We're going to go back to the Yeerk facility to get Harry's magic back. But it's also to get your memories."

"Ginny… that can't be true." I said softly.

She glared at me definitely, squaring her jaw. "Well, it is."

"And I'm not afraid of spiders. I stopped being afraid of them years ago."

For a moment, she looked as if she were torn between laughing and crying. She turned her face away from me and closed her eyes. "Go back to sleep, Ron."

I nodded and rolled away quietly. She turned over on her mat and went still, faking sleep though I knew she remained awake.

I was just nodding off when I snapped back into full consciousness. A yell split the cool morning air and Harry bolted upright, looking about wildly. His hands flew to his scar.

"What _now_?" demanded Hermione thickly, glaring blearily at Harry.

He blinked a few times. "Er. Just a nightmare," he said, running his finger down his scar.

"Great. Now I'll never get back to sleep."

He seemed to realize suddenly that he was angry with us. The muscles in his face went taut and he lowered his glower to the grass.

"Want to talk about it?" I suggested weakly.

"No," he snapped.

"What time is it?" Ginny asked loudly.

Hermione pulled back her sleeve and consulted her watch. "Ten fifty."

"Shouldn't we head over to the barn?"

Hermione and I chorused our agreement. Begrudgingly, Harry nodded.

We all got up and changed into fresh pairs of clothing. This done, I hurriedly combed my hair with my fingers. I gave Harry a sideways glance. He wasn't even bothering with his hair.

By the time we got to the barn, everyone else had arrived. Each Animorph had taken up his or her own customary place. I wheeled over to my usual corner and turned around, leaning forward on the armrests.

No one spoke for a long time.

Jake broke the silence with, "I think it's time to go back to the Yeerk facility."

This caused instant uproar.

"_What_?"

"It's only been a couple of days!"

"I don't know a lot of curses!"

"That's _insane_!"

Are you sure this is wise, Prince Jake? 

"I don't think I've trained enough…"

"Without my magic?"

Don't you remember what happened last time? 

Jake held up his hand for silence. Everyone eventually quieted down. All eyes were on him.

"I've thought about this all night," he said. "They won't be expecting it. Both Controllers and Death Eaters. They probably think we're—we're—we're wherever they think we stay, licking our wounds. And I'm not saying go in for Harry's magic. Not yet. I'm saying we should go in and show them we're not shaken easily… especially by this. And Ax?"

Yes, Prince Jake? 

"Don't call me 'prince'."

Yes, Prince Jake. 

"I can see where you're coming from," Ginny said slowly.

There was a general murmur of agreement, begrudging though it was.

"Cassie?" he asked after these died down. "What about you? You aren't getting any… bad feelings about this, are you? Like something will go wrong?"

Cassie squirmed, looking decidedly uncomfortable when all attention shifted to her. "Uh… no. Not now, at least. If something comes up, though…"

"And you, Harry?"

Harry shook his head and spread his hands open wide. "Nothing. And usually I don't get any 'bad feelings' about something unless it involves Voldemort." —Hermione and I shuddered— "If my scar starts to sting, I'll make sure you know."

Across the room from me, Rachel said, "Let's do it."

Marco threw up his hands. "Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no. That's a _bad_ sign. A bad sign! Whenever Rachel says 'let's do it', it means something _insane_ is going to happen!"  
"'Insane' meaning…?" asked Hermione.

He rewarded her with a blank stare. "Er… insane. Insane means… insane."

Obviously, no had questioned him about this before.

She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak. Before she could say anything, however, I interjected with, "There's a slight problem, Jake."

He nodded, politely waiting for me to go on.

"Hermione and I don't know many curses."

This met complete and utter silence. Ginny's mouth opened slowly and didn't close. Harry blinked in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up.

"You two helped me learn curses for the Triwizard Tournament in Fourth Year!" he accused.

"We did _not_," Hermione shot back.

He flared his nostrils. "Yeah, but you read so much you should know half the curses ever made!"

"I never remember what I read! At least, not for long! I wouldn't be able to remember what we did two years ago!"

He gawked at her.

"Well, can't you fight with the spells you _do_ know?" Jake prodded.

"I suppose," she said slowly.

He rubbed his hands together briskly. "Then I say we should go today. Now. We'll take them off guard."

"Thestrals?" asked Rachel.

He nodded.

At once, each Animorph began to morph. I shuddered, but watched the transformations in horrified fascination. I had never seen anything quite like morphing before.

After a few moments, they popped out of existence. I squinted at the place they had once stood, trying and failing to see them. A shiver ran down my spine when someone ambled past me and brushed my arm.

While this had been going on, I hadn't noticed Harry shrugging into his manticore-skin robe. This I noticed now, as he pulled the tie around his waist tight. He walked forward purposely and swung himself onto someone's back.

Hermione helped me onto Cassie's back (I learned this later, when she demorphed).

Ginny gasped in surprise and leapt forward when someone nudged her back. "Marco!" she cried. Then, glaring at where she though he stood, strode forward and walked into someone else.

I love how she plays hard to get, sighed Marco. Had I been able to see him, I'm sure he would have winked at me.

I clung to Cassie's neck, squeezing my eyes shut. My legs dangled uselessly by her sides. I glanced left. My wheelchair hovered beside me, in Ax's mouth.

Let's go! cried Jake.

I sucked my breath in between my teeth when Cassie leapt into the air. My stomach performed a few acrobatics. The ground rushed by beneath us.

Only seconds later, we were circling down to land by the Yeerk base.

Hermione retrieved my wheelchair from Ax and wheeled it over so that I could slide down into it. I settled myself, pulling out my wand and fidgeting nervously with it.

Harry slid lithely to the ground and jerked the hood of his robe up to cover his head as the Animorphs demorphed. He flexed his hands. Shifting his weight from one side to the other, he fixed his stare on Hermione again. His eyes flickered with both anger and sorrow.

"Okay," said Jake, peering through the bush that separated the woods from the parking lot. He was crouched and prepared to morph. "Since it's Visser Three running this, the guards that Ron and Ginny stunned to get in have been killed. These guards won't be much different, but now they're on the lookout for you."

Ginny nodded. I swallowed noisily. I didn't remember this, but I nodded anyway.

"Hermione, do you think you could hit them from here?"

Hermione nodded and kneeled down beside him, sliding her wand through the leaves. Narrowing her eyes, she took aim and whispered, "_Stupefy_!"

A jet of silver light erupted from the end of her wand. It struck the guard full on. He crumpled to the ground and didn't stir. Fortunately, he had been standing beneath the camera and therefore out of its view.

Behind me, I heard a loud snapping noise. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Jake halfway through his morph, striped fur covering his body and fangs the size of my little finger extending past his lower lip. I shuddered and looked away.

Can you blast the cameras out or something? he asked in thought-speak.

"Don't know how," she replied.

He turned to Ginny. She nodded grimly and pointed her wand, murmuring, "_Reducto_!"

The camera exploded.

Okay, move out, Jake said, slinking forward. Marco and Rachel followed him. Just behind them, shoulders back and head held high, Harry strode. He twitched the hood to cover his startlingly green eyes. Cassie and Ax fell behind him, looking for all the world like an honor guard.

I was jerked out of my musings when Hermione took the back of my wheelchair and pushed. My wheelchair lurched forward and, with some effort, eased out of the carpet of leaves onto the pavement. Ginny fell into step with us.

I titled my head back slightly. Silently, Tobias swooped forward toward the Animorphs.

Jake stopped before the door. Ginny? 

Without need for further instructions, she fried the Gleet BioFilter. I stared into the dark corridor. No lights were on and it was seemingly empty.

He disappeared inside, blending easily with the shadows.

"Hermione?" I asked quietly as she wheeled me inside.

She murmured in reply, "Yeah?"

"What're we going to do? We don't know any curses or jinxes!"

Her lips pulled into a grim line. "We'll just do our best. We survived last year, didn't we?"

I nodded, studying my wand.

Marco took out the first two guards we came across by slamming their heads together. Needless to say, they weren't going to be waking up for a while.

The next couple of corridors were empty.

"Um… excuse me?" I whispered timidly into the deadly silence.

Jake's ears swiveled around, followed quickly by his head. What? he demanded, amber eyes darting around the corridor.

"Doesn't it seem a little… _strange_, to you? You know, that there's no one around?"

He paused. I didn't notice that— he began.

He never had the chance to finish.

They came out of nowhere. A dozen of them appeared, surrounding us. Spell whizzed in all directions. I threw myself forward and out of my wheelchair, narrowly missing a curse intended for my head.

Harry threw up his robed arm, deflecting a spell. It ricocheted off his robe and burned a hole in the ceiling. The spell illuminated his face for a moment, allowing me a glimpse of his face. All that could be seen beneath the hood was his nose and mouth. His jaw muscles worked furiously.

Fire gathered at his fingertips. He thrust his palms at the Death Eater nearest him. The unfortunate soul then disappeared in a whirling vortex of flame.

I was brought back to my own situation when a spell scorched the ground next to my arm. Rolling, I propped myself up on one arm and said the first spell that came to mind: "_Wingardium Leviosa_!"

A Death Eater shrieked in frustration as he was lifted from his feet and hovered helplessly in midair. With a snarl and howl, Cassie leapt at him. She hit him full in the chest and brought him to the ground. His wand rolled away across the floor. His voice rose in a horrible scream I shall never forget, which was abruptly cut off when Cassie ripped out his throat.

I shuddered.

His mask snapped off. Beneath, I saw Macnair. He had once, only a short wile ago, worked in the Ministry with my father as an executioner of deadly magical beasts. Like Buckbeak.

Now it came to my attention that a battle raged around me. I had experienced this only once, and that time had been extremely short.

The blade of Ax's tail whistled by my air. I jerked back away from it. Above me, I heard a scream of pain and something thudded to the ground beside me. I looked down to see what it was.

And nearly threw up.

A human arm, cut off at the shoulder, lay beside me in a puddle of blood.

I glanced around at the wall to my right when I heard a very familiar scream. Hermione pushed herself against the wall, screaming in terror and horror. Her eyes were as round and large as plates in her white face. Tears of panic streaked her face. Hands pressed firmly over her mouth, she stared out over the battle.

Seconds later, she fainted.

I suppressed a sudden wave of nauseating fury. I had no time for this!

Swiftly, as I had grown used to this, I army crawled across the ground and swung back up into my wheelchair.

Reinforcements! cried Tobias in a voice strained with exhaustion.

As one, Animorphs, Aniwizards, and wizards turned to look down the corridor. A flood of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons flooded toward us.

The Death Eaters disparated.

YAAAH! screamed Rachel, throwing herself on a Taxxon.

Havoc exploded up around me. Flashes of the battle reached my numb brain. Ax, across the corridor, fighting off two Hork-Bajir with his tail Blade. Jake backed into corner, ears flat back on his head, taking on four Taxxons. Rachel laughing manically as she gutted a Taxxon, then screaming in rage as another clamped its mouth on her back. Tobias, fighting to stay in the air, feebly diving at the Taxxons attacking Rachel with his talons extended. Cassie howling and fending off two Hork-Bajir and a Taxxon. Marco, on his back, struggling with a Taxxon whose mouth was attached to his shoulder. Ginny whirling her wand around her head, a stream of endless curses issuing from its tip. Hermione, on the floor, out cold but unharmed.

At last, my eyes came to rest on Harry. Heat rolled off him, causing the air around him to shimmer. He cupped a ball of flame in each hand, drawing his arm back and throwing them like a Chaser does a Quaffle. The fire threw long shadows on his face. He was unrecognizable with the cold fury that twisted his features.

All the air exploded from my lungs when the body of a dead Hork-Bajir toppled back on top of me. I gasped and my breath hitched in my throat when I felt razor-sharp pain in my abdomen. A strange keening noise escaped my lips and I squirmed beneath its weight.

My eyes watered in pain. I managed to shoulder it off me.

"_Aaaagh_," I choked. Its elbow blade slid out of my abdomen. Dark blood stained my shirt. I stared at it dumbly.

The Taxxons near me went crazy. As one body, they lunged for me. My eyes widened.

I was suddenly encircled by a column of flame. I rocked back and forth, eyes widening. Heat pressed against my skin, almost burning me from its proximity. The flames were orange, tinged with blue.

My hands slid down to my injury. Blood seeped through my fingers.

The flaming vortex disappeared. Cool air rushed toward me. I shivered and pressed harder on the wound.

Harry was suddenly at my shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

I moaned.

He looked down and, gently, pried my fingers from my abdomen. His jaw muscles went taut when he saw the stab wound.

"I'll get our sprite to look at that soon," he murmured, gripping my shoulder tightly for a moment. Then I lost him again as he plunged forward, back into the battle.

Gritting my teeth, I sat up straighter. The rational part of my mind informed me I was losing a lot of blood, and fast. The panicked part screamed that I was going to die.

Squinting, I raised my wand in a shaking hand. I opened my mouth to say a spell and stopped, grunting, as something slammed into the back of my wheelchair. I was decked with a fresh wave of pain.

From what I saw of the battle, we were losing. And we were losing badly. Marco knuckled by me, covered in ghastly gashes. Cassie had lost her tail and a good-sized chunk of her nose. Rachel's arm was hanging on by only a few threads of sinew.

Feet away, Tobias crashed to the ground. Can't—oooh—my wings—so tired… he moaned.

Painful though it was, I managed to wheel forward. I bent down and scooped him up into my lap. Blood gushed from the wound. I titled my head back, moaning.

Ron? 

"Yeah?" I asked, pushing myself to the wall. My wheelchair slid awkwardly across the ground, which was slick with blood.

Who else have we lost? 

"Me, you, and Hermione."

Hermione? He seemed surprised.

"Yeah, she fainted one minute into the battle. She's over by the wall somewhere. Hopefully, she hasn't been stepped on yet."

Hermione? he repeated.

I didn't repeat myself, as I was being to find it hard to speak.

A flash of orange and white streaked by me. Jake bounded past, leaping on a Hork-Bajir with a world-shattering roar.

In my lap, Tobias said, Were you stabbed by a Hork-Bajir? 

I nodded, mouth dry.

You got off lightly. It's not as deep as it could have been… but it's still life threatening. We'll get you help as soon as this is over. Which, hopefully, will be soon. 

"It—doesn't—feel—light," I croaked.

FALL BACK! FALL BACK! roared Jake, suddenly. Marco! Grab whoever got injured! And Ron! C'mon, move, move, move! 

My wheelchair jolted as Marco lifted me from the floor. Anyone else? he demanded.

"Hermione," I panted. "Over—there."

He bounded over to Hermione, picked her up, and dumped her on my lap. Tobias gave a protesting yelp at the pressure.

And, quickly, we all retreated.

We met no resistance as we fled back into the forest. After we got a mile or so in (there were about five miles to nearest civilization), Marco dropped me and promptly demorphed.

The others followed suit.

"Cassie," Harry said, pulling his hood back. "Ron got stabbed."

Cassie gasped and rushed over to me. Gently lifting Hermione and Tobias's weight from my lap, she lifted my shirt and looked at the wound. "It's bad," she concluded.

"But you can heal him," Harry insisted. "You're an earth sprite!"

She looked him dead in the eye and said, "I can't."

"Yes, you can. But I can't. I've never shown it before, and the time I take trying will only cause him more pain. SO JUST DO IT!" he thundered.

She jumped and, lowering her gaze, went back to my wound. I closed my eyes and took a ragged breath. A gray void had appeared at the edges of my vision and was slowly enclosing it in a blank abyss.

She put her hand over the wound. I gasped in pain, skin crawling. Her brow furrowed and she began to murmur to herself. She held her breath.

I took a deep, shuddering breath as an odd sort of numbness cooled the pain. It spread through my body, calming my flaming nerves. I sighed in relief and closed my eyes.

When Cassie took her hand away, she was trembling with effort. I looked down. A thin, pink scar was all that was left of the terrible wound.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

She nodded and sat back on her haunches, tight-lipped.

The Animorphs then proceeded to morph thestral and we flew home, with no one so much as speaking a word at our horrible defeat.

A/N: Weeeell… here I am again. Sorry this 'un took so long. I'm getting ready for school, so I have all my summer reading and all that fun stuff. Durn it all!

**I just want to remind you all: I will _never_ stop this story. Too many people like it. Even if I haven't posted for 2 months, I'm going to pick it up. REMEMBER! And CONSTANCE VIGILANCE! ::wink wink::**

**Stay tuned for "Chapter 17: Elemental Fury (Tobias)"!!!**


	17. Author's Note and Sincerest Apology

Aaaaah, crimeny. It's been so LONG since I've posted, and I've so terribly sorry:facepalm: My computer freaked out at the beginning/middle of October and we got a new computer at the beginning of December. Unfortunately, it wouldn't let me log on to Well... I've found out here.

I give you all my humblest apologies. I promise to get a chapter up, quickly and _soon_. I just have to transfer it from one computer to another in order to post it. (We still have our old computer, but it doesn't have Internet access.)

Can you forgive me?

Sorry and rather depressed,

Padfoot


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